Jessica Campbell draws cheers in historic debut behind Kraken bench

Tim Booth, The Seattle Times on Oct 8, 2024

Published in Hockey

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SEATTLE — Jessica Campbell tried to fight back a smile as the cheers continued to grow. Eventually a little smirk crossed her face before the cameras moved on to the next member of the Kraken coaching staff.

Tuesday was notable on many levels for the Kraken: The first time opening the season at Climate Pledge Arena. An odd 1:30 p.m. PDT puck drop. The unveiling of Jordan Eberle as the second captain of the franchise. The debut of new coach Dan Bylsma.

They all didn’t come close to matching Campbell standing behind the Kraken bench as the first female coach in NHL history, even if the day was soured by the 3-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

“There are moments as we start the season for all of us that are firsts. (Eberle) being named captain … it’s great to see him step on the ice as a captain for the first time. Shane Wright, he’s got a journey and he’s stepping on the ice now presenting himself as a full-time NHLer, that’s great for him,” Bylsma said. “And I don’t think it can be overlooked Jess Campbell being a female coach in the National Hockey League for the first time. It’s great for her. It’s great for the game.”

The pregame intros were just one of the moments where the crowd acknowledged Campbell’s place in hockey history. Any time she was shown on the video boards, cheers followed.

Bylsma was the one introduced after Campbell and joked, “I was waiting to see if the reaction for me was going to be even louder.”

It wasn’t.

“It’s something that we’ve all been proud to be a part of, certainly making a statement around the world for all women,” Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn said. “So, a special moment for her tonight and just obviously sucks we couldn’t get the win for her.”

The 32-year-old Campbell addressed her groundbreaking hiring back in July when Bylsma added her to the coaching staff. But since, the focus has been on her job and trying to help the Kraken’s offense, specifically the power play.

“I’m a big believer in helping them realize what they’re best at. They should know, but it’s also the job of the coach to help them be their best version every night. To coach them up to that,” Campbell said recently.

Matinee hockey

The lure of national television exposure was enough for the Kraken to throw out tradition when the opportunity was presented to play a season opener at home for the first time in franchise history.

It required agreeing to play in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday in order to finally get that season opener at home.

Despite the logistical challenges and inconvenient timing, the Kraken were willing to go along with the request from the NHL and TV partner ESPN to play the opener against St. Louis at 1:30 p.m. on a non-holiday Tuesday.

The Kraken’s 3-2 loss was the first game played in North America this season after Buffalo and New Jersey played a pair of games last weekend in Prague, and part of a tripleheader broadcast by ESPN on Tuesday.

Seattle-St. Louis opened the day, followed by Stanley Cup champion Florida hosting Boston and Utah’s first game against Chicago rounding it out.

ESPN wanted a full day and night of hockey to open the season, so the NHL approached the Kraken’s hockey operations department with the idea for the mid-afternoon start.

The Kraken promoted the day as playing “Hooky for Hockey,” whether that was missing school, work or any other general responsibilities. Even with the odd start time, the majority of seats at Climate Pledge Arena were filled (attendance was announced at 17,151) by the time Eberle was unveiled as the newest captain and the puck dropped. But it wasn’t a day to make money on the secondary ticket market. Some tickets to get in the door were going as low as $21 just a couple of hours before the game started.

The Kraken are scheduled for three more afternoon home starts this season — two on Saturdays and one on a holiday Monday.

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