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Jul 05, 2024
"We are just making the plays we are supposed to make," said Rolan Milligan.
A Saskatchewan woman is making history in the NHL.
Jessica Campbell, who is originally from Moosomin, has been named an assistant coach by the league’s Seattle Kraken. According to the NHL, that makes her the first woman to serve as an assistant, associate, or head coach anywhere in the league.
The 31-year-old Campbell’s hockey career started early, as she represented her home province at the national women’s under-18 championship in 2007, serving twice as captain of Team Saskatchewan.
The @SeattleKraken have added Jessica Campbell as an assistant coach, making her the first woman to be named an assistant, associate or head coach in NHL history. pic.twitter.com/fr26CouHdI
— NHL (@NHL) July 3, 2024
In college, she played with the Cornell Big Red and later joined the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. She also captained Team Canada to a first-place finish at the 2010 IIHF Women’s U18 World Championship, taking home the tournament MVP award to boot.
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Campbell shifted to coaching after retiring from the national team in 2017 and worked as an assistant coach in for the Coachella Valley Firebirds, one of the Kraken’s minor league affiliates. That job made her the first woman to serve as a full-time behind-the-bench coach in the AHL.
She’s also appeared on reality television, joining one season of Battle of the Blades, which pairs up hockey players with figure skaters as they prepare and perform an on-ice routine.
Campbell isn’t the only Saskatchewan coach making waves in the NHL. Kris Knoblauch, from Imperial, serves as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers. Knoblauch, who took on the role in November of last year, brought his team all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup series before falling to the Florida Panthers.
–with files from The Canadian Press.