Dawn Braid becomes first full-time female NHL coach

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Arizona Coyotes has named Dawn Braid as their full-time skating coach, making her the first female full-time coach in the NHL.

Last season, Braid worked part-time for the Coyotes as their skating coach. General Manager, John Chayka, believes that Dawn Braid can bring a competitive advantage for the Coyotes as the game becomes faster.

“The fact that they respect what I do enough to name me as a full-time coach, or to name me as the first female coach in the NHL, I take a ton of pride in that.” Braid told the NHL

Braid has also worked for Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames as a consultant.

Spending seven years as the director of skating development at Athletes Training Centre in Ontario, Braid worked with many notable clients. Such as New York Islanders captain John Tavares.

Jamie Lee Rattray, a player in the Canadian Women’s Hockey league, spoke in January about whether we would see women coaching in the NHL: “you see a lot of girls developing as players and coaches now. A lot of coaches at the highest level of women’s hockey are female, so I think we’ll see it one day where an NHL team will hire a woman coach.”

Their have been few women in the NHL, however in the 50s Detroit Red Wings wrote themselves into the history book – not just for winning the Stanley Cup.

Marguerite Norris took over the position of President of the Red Wings in 1952 after her father died. This meant that Norris became the first female chief executive in NHL history. She also was the first woman to have her name engraved on the Stanley Cup, in 1954 and 55.  The team finished first in all three seasons she was at the helm.