Chicago’s NHL team on Monday hired Kendall Coyne Schofield as a player development coach, making her the first woman to hold that position in the organization’s 94-year history.
Coyne Schofield, 28, will work with the coaching staff of Chicago’s top minor league affiliate in Rockford, Illinois, and serve as youth hockey growth specialist. The former U.S women’s national team forward previously held broadcasting jobs with NBC Sports and the San Jose Sharks.
Chicago also added former NHL forward Erik Condra as player development coach, hired Juan Gonzalez from USA Hockey to be a minor league strength and conditioning coach and promoted Meghan Hunter to director of hockey administration and amateur scout.
WATCH | Kendall Coyne Schofield makes NHL history:
The American made history on Friday by becoming the 1st female to compete in the NHL’s Skills Competition when she raced around the ice in the Faster Skater competition. 1:11
“Adding talented people with diverse and multifaceted backgrounds like Kendall, Erik and Juan enhances our operations as we assess the changing landscape of hockey at all levels and continue to build and maintain a system of elite hockey,” general manager Stan Bowman said in a statement released by the team. “Each of these individuals brings unique experience to their position.”
Coyne Schofield joins a slowly growing list of women working in hockey operations for an NHL team.
- Retired Canadian star Hayley Wickenheiser is assistant director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Expansion Seattle Kraken hired Hall of Famer Cammi Granato as a pro scout and Alexandra Mandrycky as director of hockey strategy and research.
Condra will join Coyne Schofield working with the Rockford IceHogs after playing eight seasons in the NHL. Gonzalez was most recently a strength and conditioning adviser for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program. Hunter had been senior executive assistant to Bowman before her promotion.