Jessica Campbell breaks barriers as NHL’s first full-time female coach

The Seattle Kraken made history on Wednesday with the hiring of assistant coach Jessica Campbell, the first female full-time coach behind a bench in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Campbell, 32, a former Canadian women’s national team star who was an assistant coach with the Kraken minor league franchise Coachella Valley Firebirds for two seasons, joins new head coach Dan Bylsma at the league’s youngest franchise. The groundbreaking signing follows a handful of similar coaching staff appointments at other major North American professional men’s sports leagues in recent years, though the top coaching positions are exclusively for men.

“Jessica and I have coached in the Coachella Valley for the past two years,” Bylsma said, taking that franchise to the American Hockey League championship series in back-to-back seasons. “She has the ability to relate to players about their game and what they bring to a team. She’s shown that the past two seasons.”

Campbell’s professional hockey resume includes assistant coaching stints with the German men’s national team in 2022 and with the Nurnberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

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