Jessica Campbell’s parents excited to watch her in the NHL

One more Saskatchewan family can talk about their child’s NHL career this week, but this time it’s a daughter.

Jessica Campbell grew up in Rocanville, which is almost two and a half hours east of Regina, and she’s now the first woman to be hired to a coaching staff in the NHL. She was hired as an assistant coach for the Seattle Kraken this week.

Her parents Monique and Gary Campbell still live in Rocanville. Monique said it was a mix of emotions when Jessica video-called them with the good news.

“She looked like she had been crying a lot and her face was really red, and I was like ‘uh oh,’ so I just assumed not good news,” said Monique.

But it turned out to be great news.

“I think it’s going to be a really big historical moment for her, we’ll be talking about it for a long time, so it’s exciting,” said Monique.

Like many in Saskatchewan, Monique said you couldn’t keep Jessica off the ice as a kid.

“If it was public skating she just loved it. She loved playing tag, being chased. She just loved being around a lot of kids. And having older siblings I think she had the opportunity to get involved even more, so she just kept at that,” explained Monique.

“That’s what you do in a small town this size, if you really like it, you play a lot of shinny and a lot of hockey,”

Jessica was always interested in activities and sports – everything from Ukrainian dance to baseball and curling – but Gary said she went all in on hockey as she got older. He said he knew she was destined to be involved with the sport after one exchange they had when she was in the hockey academies.

“I just said to Jess, I said ‘you don’t get tired of putting on your skates every day, and going out every day?’ And she kind of looked at me and said ‘no, why dad?’” Gary said with a laugh.

Both Monique and Gary got to coach Jessica when she played as a kid. Her older siblings also played and Gary said she looked up to them – the eldest, eight years older than Jessica.

“We are competitive but we do play the game for the fun – when it turns into work then the message is wrong,” he said.

Jessica played at high levels in Saskatchewan, moving on to play for multiple national teams and Hockey Canada’s Pursuit of Excellence team, as well as university hockey in the U.S. for Cornell.

Monique said the transition to coaching started after the national team, moving to hockey skills and building her power skating program.

Gary said the opportunities right now have a lot to do with the work she put in coaching those elite level players.

“Their testimonials that they were giving was very beneficial for Jess. The hockey world is small … and the connections were made, and the questions were asked, and talks start,” said Gary.

“The Shea Webers and the Brent Seabrooks and the NHL players that she was working with in Kelowna — and that was only just from a player from Melville that plays in the NHL that asked to skate with her in Kelowna in the off-season — and it just grew from there.”

Other names she’s been tied to as a power skating coach are NHLers Tyson Jost and Joel Edmundson, and Olympian Natalie Spooner.

Jessica was invited to coach for teams in Germany, which Gary said was a big opportunity for her. In 2022 she was hired as an assistant coach for the Coachella Valley Firebirds, which made her the first woman behind the bench in the AHL as well.

As she’s risen in the hockey world, Jessica hasn’t forgotten where she came from – Monique said she’s always stayed connected to the small communities. She said Jessica has spoken at some graduations around her hometown and done hockey schools as well, she’s also spoken with the players of minor teams she used to play for in the area. Monique said the communities have a lot of respect for Jessica.

Gary and Monique are obviously proud of their youngest.

“She’s stayed grounded, she knows it takes work, effort to be impactful,” said Gary.

Monique said Jessica puts the hard work in.

“She’s always had that positive attitude and optimism that I think is really contagious to be around, so she can really uplift a group of people or a team or an organization. I think I’m excited to see how she can bring that kind of attitude into her NHL career,” said Monique.

Gary is a Montreal Canadiens fan but might have to make some additions to his merchandise as the next season comes around – the two are planning to be in Seattle for the Kraken’s home opener in October.