Rocanville, Saskatchewan native Jessica Campbell detailed her experience as being the first women to coach in the NHL with the Seattle Kraken in the 2024-2025 season
"It was full of everything, high, highs and low lows -- I experienced everything a coach could experience in their first year. We are on our way in Seattle. I'm extremely grateful and privileged to be in the position that I am and get to do what I love every day. This has always been the dream to be in the National Hockey League. To get to show up and coach these guys, it's a huge honour, but then at the same time, there's a job to do," Campbell said on the SportsCage via the Monday Nooner podcast.
Last season, the Seattle Kraken finished second last in the Pacific Division with 35 wins, 41 losses and six overtime losses. Seattle fired head coach Dan Bylsma on April 19 and replaced him with Lane Lambert on June 9.
"Our season didn't go as planned; there were changes at the end of the season. Now we're in another step, I'm embracing all of the changes and excited to see what we can accomplish next year, but I am growing through it -- everything is experience; everything is lessons learned. I'm moving forward through it, taking as much as I can through every person and trying to be a better coach every day," Campbell said.
Campbell believes the bond between her parents, Monique and Garry, is special and evident based on how the couple helped her and other siblings.
"My mom and dad coached all of us or showed up and volunteered. I was fortunate that my mom was behind the bench of our boys' teams, opening up the gate and modelling for me in many ways. I look back now that you could do anything and in untraditional spaces or in ways she showed up and was a leader. She's a teacher, she gave her time and energy in so many ways to sacrifice for us kids to do what we loved," Campbell said.
"I can't think of any moments where my mom and dad didn't fully jump on board to take us to the tournament or drop us off at the rink to have some fun, skate, play and burn some energy. They're huge pieces in my journey, I would not be where I am today had my mom and dad not modelled what it took and the sacrifice that it would take along the way."
Before Campbell's coaching career, she played hockey from 2006 to 2017. She was part of the under-18 Canadian Women's World Championship team in 2009 and 2010, Canada won silver and gold, respectievly. She was part of Team Canada that took silver at the Four Nations Cup in 2014 and later won two more medals in 2015: one gold at the Four Nations Cup and silver at the Women's Hockey World Championship. While playing in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, she earned all-star nominations from 2014 through 2016. Eventually her Calgary Inferno team won the Clarkson Cup in 2016.
"I finished my journey as a player and came to an abrupt end. I was one of the last cuts before the Olympic centralization, before the 2018 cycle. I was faced with the roadblock of what do I do from here? I was working for Sheldon Kennedy in Calgary, where I was also involved in a lot of child advocacy work and that's when I needed a change. David Roy was a huge mentor for me, showed me the way, he gave me a job and said: 'Come to Kelowna.' I said: 'I'm not ready to coach, I don't even know if I want to coach.' He's like: 'But you're a great teacher of skating, and it was your best skill.' I was always doing it, running his camps in the summer because as female hockey players we didn't make a ton of money or any at all," Campbell recalled.
"I was always running camps and doing things to compensate for my playing journey. I was hustling and I knew I loved teaching skating. When he said come to Kelowna, who doesn't want to move to the Okanagan? I was like, you know what? I'm going to do it. That's when it became very clear to me: this is what I love to do. I could be on the ice six hours a day, my feet would be blistering and I would be so pumped to get back on the ice the next day. That's when it became very clear to me -- I love coaching."
