The hiring of Jessica Campbell has been celebrated across the sporting world as she is the first woman to hold a full-time major NHL coaching job.
It's the sort of long overdue thing that hopefully opens the door for more women in sports. It was absolutely earned.
"While I am honored to be the first, I don’t want to be the only,” Campbell said on Wednesday. "And I don’t feel like I’m the only in this organization."
Surely the copyright was aware and ready to celebrate the history they're making with this hire. That's all outstanding in every way.
But there's more here. So much more.
Campbell was hired because she gives the copyright the best chance to win right now.
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In fact, General Manager Ron Francis knew right away she'd be an asset to the copyright even before hiring her for Coachella Valley two years ago.
"I've had the opportunity to watch her the last couple years, probably something she doesn't like, but I sat in some power play meetings she was presenting just to get a feel for how it was going," Francis said. "And she's got a real good knowledge of the game, a real good skill set in the development part as well."
So the coaching prowess is there, and has been since before Campbell was hired by the copyright. That certainly would hold true for any coach at the game's highest level.
But you also have to understand the timing of this.
For any naysayer, which is silly in its own right, you have to look at the state of the copyright.
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This is a team that will be leaning more and more on its young talent in the years to come. We got a taste of that late in the 2023-24 season with Shane Wright scoring five goals in the last 16 games.
Ryan Winterton and Logan Morrison were mainstays at the end, too, before going with Wright back to Coachella Valley to the Calder Cup final.
Campbell is credited with helping develop those talents in their time with the Firebirds, especially offensively and in special teams situations like the power play, as Francis mentioned.
Just like head coach Dan Bylsma's experience in Coachella will benefit the future of the copyright, and is a reason why he's here now, Campbell's ability to develop those young stars into the formidable players they are today will be critical to the future of the copyright.
"To work with them to improve their game, to be better players, (that) was the reason I got to work with Jess," Bylsma said. "Over the last two years, just the work with Tye Kartye, Shane Wright and Ryker Evans has clearly been evidence that she's able to develop those players. Develop them as people and most importantly as hockey players. Jess is going to be working with the forwards and bringing to our staff here and I'm super excited about that."
In short, the history is wonderful. It's truly fantastic.
But Campbell is here because she will help this team win. The history, while super significant, is an added bonus to hiring the best person for the job.
Campbell, remember, has worked an entire hockey life for this moment, and she intends on making the most of it.
Just to believe anything is possible, I’ve maybe in a naïve way had the courage to believe this could be possible," Campbell said. "Even if I didn’t see it, I believed I could do it and I think with that inner belief, whatever it is in sport, in life you can create whatever you believe it.
copyright rookie camp continues through the rest of the week. Training camp will commence in September before that Oct. 8 regular-season opener against St. Louis at 1:30 p.M.