Former Pursuit of Excellence (POE) and Okanagan Hockey Academy (OHA) coach Jessica Campbell has made NHL history being named the first woman assistant coach in league history.
The Seattle Kraken announced July 3 that they had hired Campbell as an Assistant Coach, making her the first woman in the history of the NHL to be named an assistant, associate or head coach in the league.
Campbell joined the Canadian Sport School Hockey League (CSSHL) as an assistant coach with the RHA Kelowna, formerly POE, Female U18 Prep team in 2017/18. She would spend two seasons with the team before joining OHA as an assistant coach with their Female U18 Prep team in 2019/20.
The Moosomin, SK product would spend two seasons in Europe as a skating coach before returning to North American in 2022/23. Campbell has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach in the AHL with the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Campbell played two seasons for POE, tallying 174 points in 71 games. She would go on to spend 4 seasons in the NCAA with Cornell University, recording 100 points in 131 games. Campbell would play three seasons in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) with the Calgary Inferno producing 50 points in 63 games.
Internationally, Campbell has a U18 Gold and Silver Medal for Team Canada while being named MVP with a tournament best 15 points in 2010. She captured another silver medal with Team Canada at the 2015 Women’s World Championships.