2 female guest coaches join Avalanche's coaching staff for Development Camp
For the first time ever, two female guest coaches will join the Colorado Avalanche's coaching staff as part of the NHL Coaches' Association Diversity Guest Coach Program. Kim Weiss and Kelsey Cline will serve as the club's guest coaches for Development Camp, Training Camp and periodically throughout the 2023-24 season.
"It's very surreal."
It hasn't taken long for Weiss and Cline to make their mark. As a roster full of Avalanche hopefuls put their best effort on the ice in Development Camp, they are soaking up all the knowledge that the duo is doling out.
"They're incredibly smart and coach at a super high level. Anytime they bring us over on the ice or tell us something, we're going to listen up," Taylor Makar said.
With Kim and Kelsey on the ice, it's simply business as usual – for coaches and players.
"I think the biggest takeaway is just hockey is hockey," Kim Weiss said. "The players just want feedback. They want coaches that care about them. They want coaches that listen. Male or female, it doesn't change. They just want that same feedback and that same understanding that their coach cares and is trying to help them become a better player."
"Since we've walked in, everyone has treated us as if we have been here for years," Kelsey Cline said. "The players have been awesome. I think they look at us as if we're just another coach out there."
In the locker room after practice, the players beamed talking about all that Weiss and Cline have brought to their Development Camp experience.
"They're really impressive. They've been critiquing drills and giving me tips, and it's amazing – their knowledge. I think they've been a great help so far," Kyle Mayhew said.
"They bring smiles every day. It's awesome. We listen to them a lot. They got good records on 'em," Makar said.
Weiss currently serves as the Associate Head Coach for the Maryland Black Bears and is the first-ever female coach of a North American Junior Hockey team.
"Being the only person with a ponytail on the ice – for one day, maybe it's a transition. Then you realize within 10-15 minutes, it's just players and coaches and pucks on the ice," Weiss said.
Cline is entering her first season as an assistant coach for the Ohio State women's hockey team after being named Director of Operations in August 2021.
Both she and her players are eager to see how this opportunity will help women's hockey continue to flourish.
"For the women's game, having coaches that can come here and see how [the Avalanche] run their operation, see the behind the scenes – it helps to see how the women's side can grow in a way that can be sustainable," Cline said. "For my players, when they found out I was coming here, they were like, "Oh my gosh!" They are eager to learn what I come here and learn."
The hope for Weiss and Cline is that what they are doing this season will one day be commonplace.
"You've never really seen it. It is true – you have to see it to believe it. Hopefully, this is something females start to see and get used to. That younger women will say, this does exist, this is real and it can happen," Cline said.
"You have to kind of pinch yourself when you wake up in the morning and realize, oh I get to go out on the ice today and work with first-round draft picks. That's pretty cool. Definitely had no concept that this was possible a few years ago. It's going to be really cool to see what comes out of this program," Weiss said.
