The start of Women's History Month provides a perfect opportunity to highlight the women hard at work across the NHL, as well as those who helped pave the way.
While no woman has played in a regular-season NHL game, plenty have made their impact felt throughout the league—as executives, as coaches, as scouts, even as Zamboni drivers. This week’s power rankings shed a light on just some of those individuals.
John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports
32. Arizona Coyotes
Last Week: 30
Record: 14-35-4
Lyndsey Fry. The former professional hockey player joined the Coyotes’ radio broadcast team as a color analyst last season, becoming just the fourth woman to hold that role for an NHL team.
31. Seattle Kraken
Last week: 32
Record: 16-34-5
Alexandra Mandrycky. The director of hockey strategy and research for the NHL’s newest franchise, Mandrycky joined the team in 2019 after working as a data analyst for the Wild for four seasons.
30. Buffalo Sabres
Last week: 28
Record: 16-30-8
Kim Pegula. A co-owner of the franchise with her husband Terry, Pegula has served as president of the Sabres and the NFL’s Bills since 2018.
29. Philadelphia Flyers
Last week: 31
Record: 16-27-10
Valerie Camillo. The president of business operations for the Flyers, Camillo joined the team in 2019 after serving as chief revenue and marketing officer for the MLB’s Nationals from 2014–18.
28. Montreal Canadiens
Last week: 29
Record: 13-34-7
Caroline Ouellette. She won four championships with Montreal’s CWHL franchise, which became an affiliate of the Canadiens in 2015 and rebranded as Les Canadiennes until the league folded in ‘19.
27. Chicago Blackhawks
Last week: 26
Record: 19-27-8
Kendall Coyne Schofield. Coyne Schofield became the first woman to serve as player development coach in Blackhawks history when she joined the team in 2020. She also plays for the U.S. national team, including as the captain at the Olympics in February, where the team won silver.
26. New Jersey Devils
Last week: 27
Record: 19-30-5
Meghan Duggan. The Devils hired Duggan as player development manager in early 2021 after she announced her retirement from professional hockey. She won eleven medals with Team USA in international play, including a gold medal at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang.
25. San Jose Sharks
Last week: 24
Record: 24-24-6
Neda Tabatabaie. The Sharks’ president of business analytics and technology, Tabatabaie joined San JOse in 2015 and created the data analytics program “from scratch,” according to the Sports Business Journal. She also launched the Sharks Women’s Network to support the team’s women employees.
24. Detroit Red Wings
Last week: 22
Record: 24-24-6
Marguerite Norris. Norris became president of the Red Wings after her father’s death in 1952, which made her the first woman chief executive in the history of the NHL. However, after two straight Stanley Cup–winning seasons in 1954 and ‘55, her brother Bruce took over as team president.
23. Ottawa Senators
Last week: 25
Record: 19-28-5
Shelley Kettles. The figure skating coach also helps the Senators improve their skills as a technical skating specialist for the franchise.
22. New York Islanders
Last week: 23
Record: 20-22-8
A.J. Mleczko. Since 2018, Mleczko has served as a studio analyst for Islanders games for MSG Networks. As a player, she won a national championship at Harvard in 1999 and played for Team USA at the ‘98 and 2002 Winter Games.
21. Anaheim Ducks
Last week: 18
Record: 26-21-9
Angela Gorgone. The first woman to serve as assistant general manager in league history, Gorgone served in the position for the 1996–97 season after three seasons as scouting coordinator. After that season, she spent two years as the Predators’ manager of hockey operations before leaving the sport.
20. Columbus Blue Jackets
Last week: 20
Record: 28-25-1
Kathryn Dobbs. The Blue Jackets’ senior vice president and chief marketing officer has called working with the team her “dream job.”
19. Winnipeg Jets
Last week: 19
Record: 24-21-9
Venla Hovi. The first woman hired as a coach in the Jets’ organization, Hovi served as a development coach from 2019–20. As a player, she won bronze medals with the Finnish national team at the 2010 and ‘18 Winter Olympics.
18. Vancouver Canucks
Last week: 21
Record: 26-23-6
Émilie Castonguay and Cammi Granato. The Canucks brought on both women as assistant general managers earlier this year. Before joining Vancouver, Granato became the first woman scout in NHL history with the Kraken in 2019.
17. Washington Capitals
Last week: 13
Record: 28-18-9
Emily Engel-Natzke. She joined the Hershey Bears, Washington’s AHL affiliate, as video coach in November 2020, becoming the first woman coach in the history of the Capitals organization.
16. Nashville Predators
Last week: 16
Record: 30-19-4
Ali Murdock and Francesca Ranieri. The pair became the first women to resurface the ice at one of the NHL’s outdoor games at the Stadium Series in Nashville this February. Murdock is an ice technician for the Lightning, the visiting team in the game, while Ranieri is executive assistant to NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer. Both are studying to become certified ice technicians through the United States Ice Rink Association.
15. Dallas Stars
Last week: 17
Record: 29-20-3
Alana Matthews. While Matthews didn’t have a sports background before joining the Stars as executive vice president of business operations and general counsel, she did bring a passion for hockey—she grew up in Toronto and Pennsylvania and played on a boys’ hockey team during her childhood.
14. Edmonton Oilers
Last week: 14
Record: 30-21-3
Steffany Hanlen. Hanlen joined the Oilers as a power skating, strength and conditioning coach in 1991 and held that role for nine years, after which she worked with the Blues for four years. In 2003, she started her Quantum Speed skating program, which trains 2,000 hockey players every year.
13. Vegas Golden Knights
Last week: 9
Record: 30-20-4
Alyssa Girardi. After stints with the Red Wings and USA Hockey, Girardi joined the Golden Knights in 2017, and she was promoted to senior manager of communications and content in 2018. She left the team in 2021 to join The Army of Survivors as director of marketing and communications.
12. New York Rangers
Last week: 11
Record: 33-15-5
Lisa Callahan. Callahan serves as the chief medical officer and senior vice president of player care for Madison Square Garden Sports, which includes the Rangers, their AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack, the NBA’s Knicks and the NBA G League’s Westchester Knicks.
11. Los Angeles Kings
Last week: 15
Record: 29-18-7
Blake Bolden. When she joined the Kings’ staff in February 2020, Bolden became the second woman overall and the first black woman to serve as a scout for an NHL team.
10. Boston Bruins
Last week: 12
Record: 32-18-4
Margaret Jacobs and Dale Hamilton-Powers. Both women had their names engraved on the Stanley Cup after the Bruins took home the trophy in 2011, Jacobs as an owner and Hamilton-Powers as the team’s director of administration.
9. Minnesota Wild
Last week: 6
Record: 31-17-3
Natalie Darwitz. A former captain of the U.S. women’s national team and current assistant coach for the University of Minnesota women’s hockey team, Darwitz became the first woman to practice with the Wild in 2016 as part of the team’s Girls Hockey Weekend.
8. Pittsburgh Penguins
Last week: 7
Record: 33-14-8
Krissy Wendell-Pohl. The two-time Olympic medalist joined the Penguins as an amateur scout in 2021, becoming the third woman to hold a scouting position with an NHL team.
7. St. Louis Blues
Last week: 8
Record: 32-14-6
Keira Emerson. After 10 years in the Dodgers’ front office, Emerson joined the Blues in 2015 and now serves as the team’s chief strategy officer. “Being able to push through and keep striving, even though I often still am the only woman in a room, is important to me so that I can be a good representative for the people that are coming behind me,” Emerson told The Hockey News.
6. Toronto Maple Leafs
Last week: 10
Record: 35-14-4
Hayley Wickenheiser. Wickenheiser was named the assistant director of player development in 2018, and last year she was promoted to senior director of player development. In addition to her work with Leafs prospects, she also is a medical doctor completing her residency at a Toronto hospital.
5. Florida Panthers
Last week: 2
Record: 35-13-5
Katie Gaus. The Pittsburgh native and former NCAA Division III field hockey player works as a digital and sideline reporter for the Atlantic Division–leading Panthers.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning
Last week: 5
Record: 35-11-6
Liz Koharski. The director of hockey administration, Koharski called herself a “jack of all trades” for the two-time defending champions, per the Tampa Bay Times. She’s in her 17th season with the team.
3. Calgary Flames
Last week: 3
Record: 32-14-6
Sonia Scurfield. The late Canadian philanthropist was co-owner of the Flames from 1985–94, including during their lone championship season in 1988–89.
2. Carolina Hurricanes
Last week: 4
Record: 37-11-5
Kelly Kirwin. Kirwin worked for the Hurricanes for eight years, including as event coordinator for hockey operations in the 2005–06 championship campaign, for which she had her name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Seventeen women have had their names engraved on the Cup.
1. Colorado Avalanche
Last week: 1
Record: 40-10-4
Charlotte Grahame. Grahame retired in 2021 from her position as the Avalanche’s vice president of hockey administration after 26 years with the team. She had her name etched on the Cup when the Avs won in 2001. When her son John won as a goaltender for the Lightning in 2004, they became the first mother-son duo to have their names on the Cup.
