Ice hockey: Jessica Campbell becomes first female coach in NHL history with Seattle Kraken
The former Canadian international player coached her first NHL match on 8 October, having been appointed assistant coach of the Seattle Kraken in July 2024.
Ice Hockey
Jessica Campbell has made ice hockey history by becoming the first female to coach a game in NHL history.
The Seattle Kraken assistant coach made her debut on the bench in the NHL regular season opener against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 October). Although the Kraken went on to lose 3-2, it will remain a monumental day in the history of the sport.
Campbell said via the team, “For me, it's just a normal day in terms of my work, in terms of my routine, in terms of all of those pieces. I never want to diminish the things that I'm doing because I'm so focused on the task at hand, but I also know that being focused on the task at hand has allowed me to get to this moment and is going to continue.
“But I think the moment leading up to the game and stepping on the bench…I'm really going to try to honor what it is, because I know, and I definitely understand that the magnitude and the importance of this moment is really important for our game.”
Campbell has been coaching since 2017, beginning in the youth leagues of her native Canada before moving to Sweden and the Malmo Redhawks for a season.
After a season in Germany with the men’s national team and the Nurnberg Ice Tigers, Campbell came to the USA and the American Hockey League.
In 2022, she joined the Kraken’s top minor league affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as an assistant coach for the following two seasons.
Campbell’s big break came in July, when she was signed to the Kraken’s coaching team ahead of the 2024-25 NHL season.
The Canadian had a successful international playing career at international level, winning the 4 Nations Cup on home ice in 2014 and as part of Canada’s silver medal-winning side at the women's 2015 World Championship.
Seattle are competing in their fourth NHL season since their foundation in 2018, once reaching the play-offs in 2022-23 and finishing sixth last season.