Women's hockey roles set to expand beyond the ice with advent of new league

For many players, the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) provides a reliable space to ply their trade.

But not only does the league introduce jobs for those on the ice — it creates work for women in the infrastructure of the game, including front-office staff, coaches, scouts and more.

The new league, which on Tuesday introduced six franchises in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Boston and Minneapolis-St. Paul and the New York area, now needs to fill all those behind-the-scenes positions.

Jayna Hefford, the PWHL's senior vice-president of hockey operations, is charged with hiring the league's first six general managers. She said she values experience and hockey knowledge, but hopes to include people with diverse backgrounds as well.

Hefford added that a "very high number of women" are candidates.

"I'm personally less concerned about gender as I am about bringing the right people that bring the right mix of functional skills to the table," she said. "We're really pleased with the candidates that have emerged and we're really excited about the ones that will be announced really shortly."

WATCH | Hefford breaks down draft, free agency processes:

Jessica Campbell, a former Canadian national-team member, became the first woman to coach full-time behind an AHL bench when she was hired by the Seattle Kraken's affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds last July.

She said she always knew she had a passion for skill development.

"But I never saw the representation of females coaching in the National Hockey League or I didn't really anticipate that my route or my path would go into this side of the game," Campbell told CBC Sports. "But I guess what you don't see, you don't know, right?"

While there's no mandate for coaching or