For decades, the roads to the highest levels of hockey were only available to men. It wasn't until the 1990s that women competed in world championships or at the Olympics, but their events often received less viewership or interest than the men’s events.
Fast forward to August 2023. The Professional Women’s Hockey League was introduced, creating the biggest stage for the highest level of women’s hockey in North America. That being said, 2023 was far from long ago.
Until then, the popular hockey games and tournaments had not only often been played by men, but men had typically managed the teams, especially behind the bench. That was, until June 2024.
Saskatchewan native Jessica Campbell was practically raised on skates. Playing ice hockey throughout her childhood, she represented Canada's name at numerous tournaments, including the IIHF U18 World Junior Championships and the IIHF World Championship. She spent four collegiate seasons at Cornell University (2010-2014), captaining the team in her senior season, before starting her professional career with the Calgary Inferno.
Campbell transitioned into coaching and skills development, coaching and learning with players in North America, and exploring opportunities abroad. During the 2021–22 season, she served as an assistant coach and skills coach for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the top men’s professional league in Germany. Her work eventually led to an assistant coach role for Team Germany at the 2022 IIHF Men's World Championship. The first woman ever behind the bench at a tournament.
Later that year Campbell joined the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Seattle Kraken's AHL affiliate, to serve in their inaugural season. With two Calder Cup Final appearances in its two seasons, the league's most intensely competitive expansion franchise, the team made it to the final in two separate seasons.
The Coachella Valley led the AHL in goals (252) in the 2023–24 season, Campbell’s second with the Firebirds, and had its second consecutive year reaching the Calder Cup Final. Coaching the forwards and managing the power play under head coach Dan Bylsma, Campbell contributed to one of the league’s most successful offenses.
In the NHL, the Kraken played near the bottom of the league in goals per game, prompting a change in coaching staff. Seattle’s front office watched the fortunes of its AHL affiliate and promoted Bylsma and his staff, including Campbell, to the NHL for the 2024-25 season.
Campbell was the first female full-time assistant coach behind the bench on opening night of the NHL in October 2024. Assistant coaches are generally regarded not as highly-publicized as head coaches, but her being there drew the attention of the public given the historic moment, and movement for women in the sport.
In January 2026, Kim Weiss was appointed assistant coach of the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, joining Campbell as one of two full-time female assistant coaches in the major leagues.
Though women’s participation in hockey has grown at community, college, and global level, there is still a significant lack of representation in professional hockey coaching and management. Weiss and Campbell’s rise represents wider changes in women’s hockey, one that hopefully doesn’t stop anytime soon.