NHL trailblazer Jessica Campbell keynote speaker at conference in Montreal

Montreal Gazette

10-07-2025

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Coaching in the National Hockey League is a high-pressure job for anyone. Add to that the fact that you're the first woman to be a full-time assistant coach in the best hockey league in the world, and you'd figure the pressure would be off the charts.
But that's not the way Jessica Campbell sees it.
'Working in the National Hockey League is a huge, huge honour,' Campbell said during a phone interview Monday from Boston, where she was running hockey drills with local players.
Campbell was hired as assistant coach of the Kraken last July and she recently completed her first NHL season behind the bench. Seattle head coach Dan Bylsma, who hired her, was fired after only one season and has been replaced by Lane Lambert. But Campbell was retained by the team.
Campbell is aware she is a pioneer and hopes she is paving the way for other women to coach in the league.
'For me to walk that path and knowing that the growth of the game and the betterment of the game is moving forward and on its way, I think that it was very special for me to be able to hold that torch,' Campbell said. 'To know that my work and what I get to do every day is hopefully going to be huge steps forward for our game and sport in general.'
Tennis Canada announced on Tuesday that Campbell will be the keynote speaker at Unmatched, a conference on gender equity in sports being held Aug. 6 at the IGA Stadium during the National Bank Open tennis tournament in Montreal.
Campbell will have a conversation about women in sports onstage at the conference with Chantal Machabée, vice-president of communications for the Montreal Canadiens.
Other participants at the conference include Portia Archer, CEO of the Women's Tennis Association; Laura Stacey, forward with the Montréal Victoire; and Marinette Pichon, sporting director of the Montreal Roses FC, the city's pro women's soccer team.
Campbell has played for the Canadian women's national team and she also played with the Calgary Inferno in the Canadian Women's Hockey League. In summer 2022, she was tapped to be an assistant coach with the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League, the farm team of the Seattle Kraken.
Campbell said she is comfortable with the pressure of being the first full-time female assistant coach in the NHL.
'Obviously, I feel pressure to be working at the highest level,' Campbell said. 'I take huge pride in the role that I have. It's a huge privilege and an opportunity. It's not a negative, and with that privilege comes a deep sense of responsibility to do my job to the best of my abilities and to remain my authentic self through that process because, obviously, I'm different. I'm new to the space, just in the sense of it traditionally being more of a male-dominated space. It brings a huge sense of responsibility for me just knowing that the success we can have will shine a light hopefully for others to look at the game and look at the growth of the game … and I know more doors are going to be opened for others like me. So I'm proud of that.'
She got into coaching via the power-skating school she runs, which began to attract elite hockey players, including some from the NHL.
'I found myself on this path organically,' Campbell said. 'I started teaching power skating, skill development. It was never about gender. It was about working with players at the highest level, so it was national team hockey players, junior guys, college guys, and then when the pros started walking through the door, that's when it hit me — 'OK, I can do this at the NHL level.' If I can coach NHL players on my own, why can't I do it on a team?'
She said she has never felt any resistance from the NHL players.
'They've always been my biggest advocates, to be honest,' Campbell said. 'The reality I've learned in coaching is that if the player trusts you and believes that you can help them, they're pretty well willing to run through a wall for you if they feel those things. That's earned respect through your work, through your skill set, through your passion, through your ability to help them. … Of course, through the journey, I've experienced no's, especially early on.'
She said she's excited to be able to share the stage with Machabée.
'Any time I'm able to share the stage or the moment with someone who understands and who's been through it … I look up to these people and she's one of them,' Campbell said. 'So, obviously, it's a no-brainer for me to be excited about this opportunity.'