Prior to beginning her coaching career, she was a college
ice hockey player for the
Providence Friars women's ice hockey team and was honored as the
ECAC Player of the Year in 1989. She was then head coach for eight seasons at
Northeastern Huskies from 1992 to 2000, winning the ECAC coach of the year 1994. In 2000, Linstad became the women's ice hockey coach at the
University of Connecticut, coaching the
Connecticut Huskies for thirteen seasons. On February 13, 2010, Linstad obtained her 300th win as a head coach, with a 4–1 over her alma mater, the Providence Friars. In 2016, she would be awarded the Women's Hockey Founders Award by the
American Hockey Coaches Association for her contributions to the growth and development of women's ice hockey in the United States. On January 29, 2016, Lindstad was named as head coach of the Connecticut Whale of the National Women's Hockey League. ==Controversy==