“I certainly realize that this moment is very important for our sport. Every day, I am driven forward by the knowledge that I am part of something much bigger than just myself,” she said Jessica Campbell to journalists after becoming the first ever woman on the bench of an NHL club.
The 32-year-old coach became an official part of the Seattle Kraken‘s first team in July when new head coach Dan Bylsma selected her as his assistant.
The pair also worked together on the bench of the Coachella Valley Firebirds farm team in the AHL for the past two seasons.
While in other overseas professional leagues (in the NBA, MLB and NFL) women have been working in coaching positions for years, no woman has yet coached full-time in the NHL. Until Campbell came along.
However, head coach Dan Bylsma has repeatedly emphasized that he in no way selected her because she is a woman. According to him, it was decided in her favor that she was the best possible person for the given position.
“Two years ago, when we started working together, she was still a young coach. She had to gradually grow and improve. I challenged her several times to do things differently or at least think about them differently. At the same time, she, whether consciously or not, challenged me to make sure that I was the coach I really wanted to be,” Bylsma said about her.
An inappropriate question from a Slovak journalist
Campbell came to the attention of a part of the Slovak public already in 2022, when she received an inappropriate question from RTVS reporter Babora Žiačikova during the World Hockey Championship.
At that time, the Canadian worked as an assistant to the head coach on the bench of the German national team.
“What’s it like to be on a team when you’re a beautiful woman and the locker room is full of handsome men? Maybe you like some more than others.” quoted Žiačik’s question by Finnish public media Yle.
Campbell was visibly taken aback by this situation: “I’m sorry, but
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