NHL-Seattle Kraken hire NHL's first ever female assistant coach

By Karl Plume

(Reuters) - The Seattle Kraken made history on Wednesday with the hiring of assistant coach Jessica Campbell, who will become the first ever full-time female coach behind a National Hockey League (NHL) bench.

Campbell, 32, a former Canadian women's national team star and assistant coach with the Kraken minor league franchise Coachella Valley Firebirds for two seasons, joins new head coach Dan Bylsma at the league's youngest franchise.

The groundbreaking signing follows a handful of similar coaching staff appointments in other major North American professional men's sports leagues in recent years, although top coaching jobs remain exclusively male.

"Jessica and I spent the last two years coaching in Coachella Valley," said Bylsma. They took that franchise to the American Hockey League's championship series in two straight seasons.

"She has the ability to relate to players about their games and what they bring to a team. She's demonstrated that over the last two seasons."

Campbell's professional hockey resume includes assistant coaching stints with the German men's national team in 2022 and with the Deutsche Eishockey Liga's Nurnberg Ice Tigers.

(Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; editing by Clare Fallon)