Hockey fans got to see sports history being made this week at the NHL’s 2024-25 season-opener at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. A wave of applause and cheers greeted the Seattle Kraken’s Jessica Campbell as she took her place behind the bench as the NHL’s first-ever female full-time assistant coach on Tuesday.
Although the Kraken lost 3-2 against the St. Louis Blues, there was a celebratory atmosphere in the arena in recognition of Campbell’s historic achievement. Fans and supporters at Tuesday’s game cheered when Campbell was introduced. Campbell smiled in response, but after that her focus was entirely on the game. “It’s just a normal day in terms of my work,” she said, although she acknowledged the greater impact her role will have on the game.
“I just know that the young kids who are at their first hockey game [on Tuesday], all they’re going to know is that there can be a female coach behind the bench,” Campbell saidhttps://www.nhl.com/kraken/news/jess-first-game-story-ft. “It’s really special for me.”
Campbell has been working her way towards this moment for years. It all started in her childhood. She grew up in a hockey-obsessed family, often playing on the ice with her older brother Josh. After Josh died in an accident at the age of 18, hockey became a way for Campbell to work through the grief, honor her brother, and continue to feel connected with him.
“I think every day about how I get to live out my brother’s dream of working or playing at the highest level on the men’s side,” she told The Score.
She was the captain of her hockey team in her senior year at Cornell University where she played from 2010 to 2014. She played professionally in Canada and Sweden. After that Campbell worked as an assistant coach in Germany for their top professional men’s league and at the 2022 world championships, as well as in the American Hockey League.
This was also the first Kraken game for new head coach Dan Bylsma, who was hired back in May. Bylsma had previously worked with Campbell when he hired her as an assistant coach with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in 2022. This was also a historical moment at the time as Campbell became the first female assistant coach in AHL. They achieved success together by reaching the AHL’s Calder Cup Finals the past two seasons.
After Bylsma joined the Kraken in May he brought Campbell to the NHL with him.
“Jessica being a female coach in the NHL for the first time, it’s great for her and it’s great for the game,” Bylsma said.
Campbell sees this milestone as “part of a movement” and “part of… really important change.”
“Hopefully somebody else will have a door held open for them versus them having to push it open and find ways to unlock it. I look at the other women around me and other people in the industry doing their piece and doing a fantastic job of it,” she said. “Anytime you have different people in the room, you get different and good outcomes; you get unique outcomes. You get problems solved in a different way and I think that’s how you get ahead in life and in sport.”
You can read more and get tickets to a Kraken game on the NHL website.