Blackhawks hire Kendall Coyne Schofield as player development coach

Kendall Coyne Schofield figures there will be a time in her new role as player development coach that a Chicago Blackhawks prospect will razz her for preaching one thing and doing the opposite on the ice herself.

She’s not worried about how she’ll be received as a woman in a men’s professional sport.

“While I may be first female coach a lot of these players have worked with, I don’t see it being an issue,” Coyne Schofield said Monday. “Through my hockey career, I’ve been on the ice with so many players and I’ve earned the respect of those players through my skill, through my merit, and that’s what they’re going to see me as when I walk through the door as a coach.”

Coyne Schofield is the first woman to become a player development coach in the Blackhawks’ 94-year history. While planning to continue playing for the U.S. women’s national team, the 28-year-old will work with the coaching staff of Chicago’s top minor league affiliate in Rockford, Illinois, and serve as youth hockey growth specialist.

She 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, while the expansion Seattle Kraken hired Hall of Famer Cammi Granato as a pro scout and Alexandra Mandrycky as director of hockey strategy and research.

Hockey hasn’t advanced as quickly as other sports, like in baseball, where Kim Ng became general manager of the Miami Marlins, or football and basketball, where women are full-time assistant coaches. Coyne Schofield hopes she helps that change.

“I think becoming the first female player development coach in Blackhawks’ history speaks volumes, and it’s definitely going to create the next opportunity for a young girl,” Coyne Schofield said. “I definitely do think it is part of the broader growth that we’re seeing for females in the sport of hockey.”