Jessica Campbell, new assistant coach of the Seattle Kraken.

Photo credit: Seattle Sports – My Northwest

The PWHL took the hockey world by storm in 2023/24, and now the Seattle Kraken have made history by hiring Jessica Campbell as assistant coach.

Women in sports have come a long way in recent years, and now, the NHL has joined the NBA, MLB and NFL in one history making category. On Wednesday, the Seattle Kraken officially announced that Jessica Campbell, former coach with the Coachella Valley Firebirds has officially been named an assistant coach, the first woman in NHL history to do so.

BREAKING: The Seattle Kraken have hired Jessica Campbell as an assistant coach which makes her the first woman in NHL history to be behind the bench. #SeaKraken

The move marks a major step forward for woman in hockey after the PWHL became a massive, viable league over the past few months, and this honour couldn’t have happened to a more qualified person.

Hopefully this is step one of many towards equality in hockey, as women should be able to coach in the NHL, AHL, PWHL or any league they are qualified, so this is a major achievement for Campbell.