Kraken trailblazing coach Jessica Campbell recalls difficult journey into men's hockey

Before she became a trailblazer as the first woman to coach in the NHL, Jessica Campbell was told “no” many times about potential employment in men's hockey.

"There were probably three, four teams where the ownership didn’t want to hire me strictly because I was female," the 32-year-old assistant coach for the Seattle Kraken said on Monday's episode of the "Empty Netters" podcast. 

In 2021, Campbell — a former player herself in Canada — became the first woman to serve as an assistant coach for a men's national team, with Germany. The next year, she made history as the first female coach in the American Hockey League with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. 

Though her coaching accomplishments seemed to come quickly, Campbell admitted her journey wasn’t without struggle. As she said on the podcast, “Every six months, I almost had a new platform to prove myself as a person and as a coach.”

In the early years of her career, Campbell encountered significant resistance, including being turned down by several men's teams because she’s a woman.

At one point she recalled asking herself, "How am I actually going to stay in this league?” But instead of letting setbacks derail her, she doubled down on developing her coaching style, focusing on what she loved most about the game: teaching skating and working with players.

Her hard work paid off when she was hired by the Firebirds, opening doors that once felt closed. 

“I wholeheartedly believe now that my confidence comes from the players giving me the permission to feel like I belonged here,” she shared in her hour-plus-long podcast interview.

She expressed her excitement about the podcast conversation on Instagram, calling it “the best hockey chat I've had in a long time (or ever).”

With the Kraken (5-7-1), Campbell is poised to make her mark. Her journey is a powerful reminder of resilience and the importance of representation in sports, inspiring the next generation of female players and coaches along the way.