For the first time in NHL history, a woman has been hired as a full-time coach.
The Arizona Coyotes have added Dawn Braid to their coaching staff. Braid is a former professional pair figure skater, who was inducted into the World Skating Hall of Fame after competing in the Olympics and being a five-time Canadian champion.
Last season, she worked as a skating consultant for the Coyotes. Prior to that, she fulfilled the same part-time role for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres, and Calgary Flames.
OFFICIAL: Mike Van Ryn, Steve Potvin and Dawn Braid have been added to the coaching staff. https://t.co/r1YBjZ1IrI pic.twitter.com/bVCWTlAxHI
— Yotes (@ArizonaCoyotes) August 24, 2016
Before that, she spent seven years as the director of skating development at Athletes Training Centre in Mississauga, Ont., instructing clients that included New York Islanders captain John Tavares. Her first NHL client was San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski.
“Dawn has wanted to put me in to make myself a more powerful and efficient skater,” Tavares told NHL.com in 2012. “Dawn always says, ‘If you didn’t train properly and do the certain things you need to do, you’re not going to be strong enough to do the things I want you to do.'” (NHL.com)
What another historic day for women coaching male professional athletes.