The Seattle Kraken have been champions of diversity since before they played their first game. That trend continues with Jessica Campbell’s hiring as an assistant coach.
The Seattle Kraken have shattered another glass ceiling.
On Wednesday, the club announced that Jessica Campbell and Bob Woods have been added to the staff of new head coach Dan Bylsma, as assistant coaches.
The hiring makes Campbell, 32, the first woman ever to hold a full-time assistant coaching position in the NHL. It comes after she spent the last two years working alongside Bylsma with the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds. That team reached the Calder Cup Final in both seasons.
A native of Moosomin, Saskatchewan, Campbell’s playing career began with a gold medal for Canada at the Women’s U18 World Championship in 2010, where she served as captain and was named most valuable player after putting up a tournament-leading 15 points in five games.
From there, she spent four years at Cornell University, also serving as captain in her final season.
Following three seasons with the Calgary Inferno of the now-defunct CWHL, Campbell started to move into coaching, working as an assistant for women’s prep school programs Pursuit of Excellence and Okanagan Hockey Academy in British Columbia.
In the 2019-20 season, she wrapped up her playing career with the Malmo Redhawks in Sweden.
