Bylsma Not Only Kraken Headliner

Jessica Campbell has established herself as a rising star in the coaching ranks.

Currently assistant coach with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, she also owns JC Powerskating, which counts NHL players among its clients. She was an assistant for Germany at the 2022 IIHF Men's World Championship.

Prior to that, she skated as a forward in college at Cornell, for Team Canada, and in the pros.

And oh, by the way, she's female - the first female coach ever behind an AHL bench.

It's for the former set of reasons, not the latter, that Campbell might soon make hockey history again.

At his introduction Tuesday as new Seattle Kraken head coach, Dan Bylsma talked about finding assistants to join him behind the bench. Since Campbell fills that role for Byslma with the Firebirds, her name came up, as you'll hear in this Kraken Reaction .

The Kraken also need to find a Bylsma replacement for their AHL farm team. Either as the new Coachella Valley head coach or an NHL assistant, Campbell would be a trailblazer.

Both sports and non-sports media pounced on those prospects, leading to headlines like the ones above. Kraken general manager Ron Francis wanted to make sure everyone knew why Jessica Campbell was under consideration.

“The job she’s done is the reason why we hired her," Francis said at the Tuesday press conference. "We didn’t hire her because she was female. We hired her because she was a good coach. She has an interesting background, not only skating but skill development and that’s a big part of what they’ve been able to do at Coachella Valley.”

The Hockey News columnist Ken Campbell is among those who thinks Campbell worthy of a promotion.

"She was hand-picked by Dan Bylsma to be an assistant coach in Coachella Valley. The results are right there for everyone to see. The team has done very, very well. She runs the power play there, and she's got a lot of experience. She's coached both women's and men's hockey, started her own power skating academy."

Kraken Have Made Hiring History Before

The Kraken have an admirable track record of hiring qualified candidates who might not look or sound like those who traditionally get such jobs. Everett Fitzhugh is the NHL's first Black play-by-play broadcaster. Cammi Granato, now assistant GM in Vancouver, became the league's first female pro scout with the Kraken in 2019. Chanel Keenan, who has "brittle bones" disease, has been a Kraken consultant.

For a Kraken preseason game at Climate Pledge Arena on September 25, 2023, Coachella Valley coaches were behind the bench. They included Dan Bylsma, and Jessica Campbell.

At every opportunity, Campbell has excelled at being first.

Her middle name is Eve, after all.