Kraken assistant makes history as first woman to coach in NHL game

Campbell played at the collegiate level for Cornell and was also a regular for the Canadian National Team, winning silver at the 2015 World Championships.

She retired from the National Team in 2017 and stepped into coaching roles, first working with individual players as the owner of a power skating company.

At the start of the 2023-24 season she was hired by the Kraken organization to serve as an assistant coach for the team's top-minor league affiliate, the American Hockey League's Coachella Valley Firebirds. At that point she was already the first woman to be employed on a full-time basis by an NHL organization. 

This season they promoted her to the NHL team to serve as an assistant alongside new head coach Dan Bylsma. They both worked alongside each other with Coachella Valley.

It is a significant moment in the history of the league, not only because Campbell is the first woman to serve in such a high-ranking role, but because hockey has historically been one of the least diverse sports in North America. 

That is slowly starting to change, and this is a big step in that progress.