SEATTLE (AP) — Jessica Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday.
Campbell has spent the past two seasons working as an assistant coach for Seattle’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley alongside head coach Dan Bylsma, who was hired in late May to take over the head job with the Kraken. There were immediate questions about whether Campbell would be making the move with Bylsma to Seattle.
She will, breaking through another barrier for women in hockey. Emily Engel-Natzke was hired by the Washington Capitals in 2022 as video coach, making her the first woman with a full-time assistant role in the league.
Now, there will be a woman on the bench.
“During our tenure in Coachella Valley, I saw firsthand Jessica’s commitment to player development,” Bylsma said. “Her ability to establish relationships with her players, specifically Tye Kartye, Shane Wright and Ryker Evans, was an important factor in this hire. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with her at the NHL level.”
Campbell was a decorated player in the NCAA, the Canadian Women’s Hockey League and Canada’s women’s national team, with whom she won silver at the 2015 world championship.
With the exception of a short stint with the Malmo Redhawks in Sweden in 2019-20, she hung up her skates in 2017 and had become highly regarded as a skating coach when she joined Coachella Valley in 2022. She had also worked as an assistant coach for Germany during the 2022 IIHF World Championships.
The 32-year-old native of Rocanville, Saskatchewan, was the first full-time female assistant coach in the AHL when she was hired by Coachella Valley before the start of its first season. She also had a one-game stint as an assistant on the Kraken bench for a preseason game against Calgary last September.
But having a woman on the bench as a coach has been an area where the NHL has lagged behind the NBA and NFL.
The NHL Coaches Association launched a Female Coaches Development Program in 2021 with the goal of growing the pool of available candidates.
Even before joining the league in 2021, the Kraken were at the forefront of giving women opportunities in hockey operations. Current assistant general manager Alexandra Mandrycky was one of the first front-office hires made by the franchise in 2018 as director of hockey administration and was part of the group that led the search for a general manager that ended with the hire of Ron Francis.
Namita Nandakumar was hired in 2020 and is a senior analyst in hockey operations.
Seattle also hired Hall of Famer Cammi Granato as a pro scout in 2019, a role she held before joining the Vancouver Canucks as an assistant GM in 2022.
Along with Campbell, the Kraken filled another spot on the coaching staff by hiring Bob Woods as one of Bylsma's assistants. Woods was an assistant with Minnesota since 2017, but was let go when Dean Evason was fired as head coach early last season.
Assistant coach Dave Lowry, goaltending coach Steve Briere, video coach Tim Ohashi and video assistant Brady Morgan complete the rest of the coaching staff.
AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed.
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
FILE - Jessica Campbell, left, assistant coach for the Coachella Valley Firebirds, works alongside Seattle Kraken coaches behind the bench during the second period of an NHL preseason hockey game against the Calgary Flames, Sept. 25, 2023, in Seattle. Jessica Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond, File)
FILE - Germany's assistant coach Jessica Campbell fist bumps with head coach Toni Soderholm after winning the group A Hockey World Championship match between Germany and Italy in Helsinki, Finland, Friday May 20 2022. Jessica Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday, July 3, 2024.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
FILE - Germany's assistant coach Jessica Campbell stands behind players at the German bench during the group A Hockey World Championship match between France and Germany in Helsinki, Finland, Monday May 16, 2022. Jessica Campbell will become the first woman to work on the bench of an NHL franchise after the Seattle Kraken hired her as an assistant coach Wednesday, July 3, 2024.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)
PROVO, Utah (AP) — Malfunctioning fireworks veered into the stands at a crowded Utah football stadium and struck members of the audience during a Fourth of July celebration, sending up to six people to the hospital, according to authorities and the event organizer.
The mishap occurred during the opening ceremonies of the Stadium of Fire show, the flagship event at Provo's annual Freedom Festival at Brigham Young University's LaVell Edwards Stadium. The fireworks were shot off inside the outdoor arena as several jets passed overhead.
Organizers halted the show for about 15 minutes while injured audience members received medical attention, Freedom Festival spokesperson Emory Cook said Friday.
As many as six people were taken to the hospital, including one with serious injuries, Cook said, adding that he did not know the severity of the other injuries nor the number of people who were struck by fireworks.
Local authorities are investigating the cause of the mishap.
Videos posted on social media show individual fireworks veering off from the cluster sent into the sky over the field and landing among rows of spectators in the stands at the outdoor arena. About 45,000 people attended the sold-out show, Cook said.
“Definitely a firework malfunctioned, but we're still trying to figure out how that happened,” Cook said. “All the fireworks were installed properly before the event, and they were inspected and approved prior to the show by authorities.”
Teresa Jack of Provo, who was watching the show from the field, said she saw a rocket fly over her head and into the stadium’s east stands, exploding and sending up a big cloud of smoke like a bomb going off.
People in the crowd started waving to let officials know there were injuries and yelling “stop the show” at the speaker on stage, she said.
People were asked to remain in their seats while injured people were told to report to a medical tent for treatment, said Jack, a well-organized response she credits for preventing a stampede.
Fire department personnel and paramedics were on scene when the show started and reached the injured audience members within a minute, said Provo Fire and Rescue spokesperson Jeanie Atherton.
She said her department transported only one person to the hospital but that other victims might have gone by personal vehicles.
The event, which featured the Jonas Brothers, resumed under approval from the Provo fire marshal after the fireworks had been inspected following the accident, said BYU police department spokesperson Karen Ellingson.
The fireworks that malfunctioned inside the stadium were relatively small compared with the large pyrotechnics that are used during the show’s finale, Cook said. Those larger fireworks are kept outside the stadium, he said.
The Fourth of July show was organized by Stellar Fireworks of Wichita, Kansas. Company representative Andrew Nguyen said the pyrotechnics that misfired were from a device called a repeater that fires 25 shots simultaneously.
“It blew apart and instead of the shots being oriented vertically, they became horizontal because the device had no structure,” he said.
Nguyen added that the company has staged fireworks shows in Provo for 40 years without a comparable incident.
Jack, who went to the festival to see the Jonas Brothers, said she and her friends almost left during the finale partly because of the earlier malfunction but stayed because the display was amazing. But she said she was just as impressed with the drones as the traditional fireworks in the show, which made her wonder if that would be the better way to celebrate Independence Day.
“It might be time for us to reevaluate this tradition,” she said.
Fireworks explode in the sky during a July Fourth celebration at LaVell Edwards Stadium, Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Provo, Utah. Several people were injured when fireworks misfired and struck members of the audience inside the football stadium police said.(Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
Smoke appears in the stands during a July Fourth fireworks celebration at LaVell Edwards Stadium, Thursday, July 4, 2024 in Provo, Utah. Several people were injured when fireworks misfired and struck members of the audience inside the football stadium police said.(Teresa Jack via AP)
The crowd reacts after an errant firework exploded among attendees during Stadium of Fire held at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah, on Thursday, July 4, 2024. Several people were injured when fireworks misfired and struck members of the audience inside the football stadium police said. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
The crowd watches as a member of Provo Fire and Rescue searches for an injured individual after an errant firework exploded among attendees during Stadium of Fire held at LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah., on Thursday, July 4, 2024. Several people were injured when fireworks misfired and struck members of the audience inside the football stadium police said. (Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP)
