Campbell the centre of attention in first season behind Kraken bench

Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jessica Campbell has found herself as the centre of attention so far this season.

Campbell made history on Oct. 8 when she became the first woman to be a full-time coach behind a National Hockey League bench when the Kraken faced the St. Louis Blues at Climate Pledge Arena.

Under head coach Dan Bylsma, the 32-year-old works with the Kraken’s forwards and power play. But it’s clear Campbell’s influence goes beyond the rink. From holding her own media availabilities to having a little girl in Dallas throw her friendship bracelets over the glass, Campbell has had a whirlwind journey so far in this young season. 

The Kraken will face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night as part of their five-game road trip. 

“As I go through these moments, I don’t take it lightly – the path that I’m on and charting hopefully for others to come down and be part of,” Campbell told the media Wednesday morning in Toronto. “But I think there’s so much more to this schedule, this job, I can’t take any moment for granted. I never do.”

Hailing from Rocanville, Sask., Campbell’s hockey journey has taken her all over the world.

In 2010, she moved to Ithaca, NY., where she spent four seasons playing with Cornell University. After that, she returned closer to home, suiting up in the Canadian Women’s Hockey League with the Calgary Inferno, where she won a Clarkson Cup and got an opportunity with the Canadian national team, earning silver at the 2015 Women’s World Championships.

After wrapping up her playing career, Campbell was coaching with the Okanagan Hockey Academy before getting an opportunity to spend time in Europe working as a skating coach with Sweden’s Malmo Redhawks junior and senior teams. She would also spend time with the DEL’s Nurnberg Tigers in Germany and the German men’s national team.

It was her work as a skills and skating coach in Kelowna B.C., which started when she worked with the likes of NHLers Brent Seabrook, Luke Schenn and Damon Severson during the pandemic, that launched her onto Bylsma’s radar. Bylsma sent Campbell an email looking to get in touch with her about a coaching opportunity. 

The connection led to her joining Bylsma behind the bench as an assistant coach with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Kraken's AHL affiliate, in 2022. She spent two seasons with Bylsma in the AHL before both were hired in Seattle during the off-season.

While Campbell has had the opportunity to develop her coaching style in a variety of environments, including in both the men’s and women’s games, she also knows what it’s like being on the other side as a player and that experience helped shape what kind of coach she wanted to be.

“I’ve been shaped by a lot of great coaches, but also coaches that maybe I didn’t love along the way,” said Campbell. “You learn something from everyone, and then take a piece from every person that you come across.

“From playing to now coaching, I think I really enjoyed the coaches that were honest but also extremely positive. I think the power of positivity is real. Even the top players, they sometimes don’t even know how good they are.

“I’ve tried to take some of those experiences and tools that some coaches have used in their messaging or their approach and their style of communication, that’s [how] I really tried to model my approach. My college coach, Doug Derraugh, he was a great mentor, person, support and he cared about us as people first, and for me that’s paramount to what I do.”

Now in their fourth year in existence, the Kraken missed the playoffs last season, finishing sixth in the Pacific Division. It was the opposite in Coachella Valley, where Campbell and the Firebirds went to their second straight Calder Cup final before losing to the Hershey Bears for the second year in a row.

While with the Firebirds, Campbell had the opportunity to work with some of the Kraken’s young forwards like Shane Wright, the fourth-overall pick in 2022, and Tye Kartye.  

Campbell realizes that for a lot of the players, having a woman in a full-time capacity behind the bench is new for them.

“I think they’re very familiar now with how I operate, and I believe I’m a very approachable person and [care about] their success and well-being,” said Campbell. “I just want to get in the trenches and help them – whether that’s pre-practice, during or post practice, in any way. But they’ve been great.”

As a Montreal Canadiens fan growing up, Campbell played one game at the Bell Centre as a player during her time with the CWHL. On Tuesday night she got to enjoy the action from behind the bench and her team did not disappoint.

The Kraken scored eight goals in an 8-2 win over the Canadiens with the power play notching three goals. While Campbell was happy with the win, it was an emotional experience for her.

“It was just a full-circle moment where I really felt all the emotions and what this journey has been,” said Campbell of being in Montreal. “Just trying to take it all in and relish in every moment.”