Kraken's Jessica Campbell comfortable as trailblazer: 'I'm part of something a lot bigger'
Jessica Campbell stood behind the visiting team's bench watching that night's opponent in warm-up.
The Seattle Kraken assistant coach was focused on the Dallas Stars' line rushes and defence pairs when she noticed a young girl in the stands.
"Just so excited," Campbell recalled of the face looking back through the glass. "I locked eyes with her in that moment; it hit me that I'm looking at her and she can now see what she can become.
"I never had that."
The 32-year-old is the first woman to hold an on-the-bench role as an assistant or associate coach in NHL history after getting hired in July following two seasons with Seattle's top minor-league affiliate.
"Starting to really get to know the group and the team, them getting to know me," she said. "The demands of the schedule, the vigorous push through it all, it's just managing all that."
It's also about managing the attention as a trailblazer.
Campbell held a media availability with Montreal reporters Monday ahead of her first NHL game in Canada before doing the same Wednesday at the Kraken's hotel in Toronto.
"As I go through these moments, I don't take it lightly, the path that I'm on and charting," said the product of Rocanville, Sask. "But I think there's so much to this schedule, to this job, that I can't take any moment for granted. I never do."
WATCH | Campbell tells The National's Ian Hanomansing about her path to the top of hockey:
Jessica Campbell puts her skates on the same way as everyone else
Campbell, who played U.S. college hockey at Cornell University, professionally in the now-defunct Canadian Women's Hockey League and with the national team, had one of those moments Tuesday before Seattle walloped Montreal 8-2.
She grew up cheering for the