NHL and AHL Clubs Make Headlines With Historic Hires.

Sharks hire Mike Grier as NHL’s first

Black GM

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The San Jose Sharks have hired longtime NHL forward Mike Grier to become the first Black general manager in NHL history.

Grier fills the spot that opened when Doug Wilson stepped away for health reasons earlier this year.

Grier spent three of his 14 seasons in the NHL with the Sharks from 2006-09, and he has spent the past decade filling various roles as a coach and scout around the league. He was most recently the hockey operations advisor for the New York Rangers.

Grier was the pick after a lengthy search that included dozens of candidates and lasted nearly three months since Wilson announced he was stepping down on April 7. Wilson had taken a leave of absence in November.

The barrier-breaking hire comes less than a week after interim general manager Joe Will announced that head coach Bob Boughner and three of his assistants wouldn’t return next season. Will said he made the move two months after the season ended to give the new general manager a clean slate.

Grier has a tough task in San Jose in trying to rebuild a team that has missed the playoffs for three straight seasons for the first time in franchise history.

Grier will have to get to work quickly, hiring a new coach and dealing with the draft Thursday and Friday and the start of free agency next week. San Jose has the 11th pick in the first round.

Grier comes from a family of successful sports executives. His brother, Chris, serves as general manager of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, and his father, Bobby, served as a longtime coach and front office executive for the New England Patriots and Houston Texans.

Grier went into hockey instead, playing 1,060 games in the NHL for Edmonton, Washington, Buffalo and San Jose. He had 162 goals and 221 assists in his career.

The NHL has been stressing diversity with several women also getting opportunities in front office positions and on coaching staffs.

The Arizona Coyotes announced Tuesday that Kelsey Koelzer and Kori Cheverie will serve as coaches under head coach André Tourigny during the team’s development program next week.

Jessica Campbell hired as 1st female assistant coach in AHL

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — The Coachella Valley Firebirds have hired the American Hockey League’s first female assistant coach.

Jessica Campbell is ready for the opportunity.

“I’ve been spending a little bit more of my time on the development side the past three years and truly trying to create the opportunities and the growth for myself, and the knowledge to put myself in this position,” Campbell said. “So I’m very excited to be able to bring that to Coachella.”

Campbell, whose hiring was announced Tuesday, has spent the past year working with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL development program and she was an assistant coach with Germany at the IIHF men’s world championships.

Coachella Valley is set to begin its first season this fall as the AHL affiliate for the Seattle Kraken.

“All signs and all indications of what we were looking for in a coach kind of led me to Jess and led to our conversations, and has led us to her being our first assistant coach,” Coachella Valley coach Dan Bylsma said.

Bylsma was drawn to Campbell’s background as a skating coach. He first reached out to Campbell in an email sent to a generic email address for Campbell’s skating school. Her first thought, “Is this spam?”

“It was special because I was obviously in a position where I was looking for that next step,” Campbell said.

Campbell was part of the Canadian national team program and played three seasons for the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League. She also played collegiately at Cornell.