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Emily Engel-Natske wanted to make the National Hockey League as a video coach.
When the Washington Capitals appointed Engel-Natske’s video coordinator on Thursday, she not only achieved that goal, but became the first woman to take a full-time position at the NHL coaching staff.
“I’ve never really looked at myself in this lens, and I think if you asked me a week ago, I wouldn’t want it to be a big deal,” Engel-Natske said. “But with everything that happens somehow geopolitically, I think I’m more honored to be, I guess, the first. We hope that this just opens the door even more for people who want to get into this job and this profession. ”
This is the latest in a series of promotions for women in the NHL in recent months after decades of slow progress in diversifying the sport in the coaching and executive ranks.
“It was deserved and deserved,” said coach Peter Laviolet. “We feel like we hired a really qualified person, who we introduced to the organization two years ago and came in and did an exceptional job, and that’s the goal of development. We have the best person for me and that’s the most important thing. “
Engel-Natske’s journey to Washington began in earnest in 2017, when she began working as a full-time video coach for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey coach Tony Granato after several years of helping with men’s and women’s programs. there.
When she first showed up, one of the questions I asked her was, “What do you want to do with this?” Is this a full-time concert for you? “Something you want to try to pursue on a different level?” Granato said. “And she said, ‘Yeah, I want to know how I can be the first woman to make it to the NHL from the video.’
Engel-Natske, 31, comes from Hershey Bears, the best branch in Washington, D.C., where she was the first woman to be a full-time member of the coaching staff of the American Hockey League.
After playing two seasons of Division III hockey at Adrian College, Engel-Natske received a heavy workload in Wisconsin to prepare her for the pros, then took another step in Hershey, presenting 5-5 scout reports to opponents and becoming more engaged in the daily work of the team.
“She has grown a lot in her position, just to learn the professional side of the game,” said Bears vice president of hockey operations Brian Helmer. “Emily is very hardworking and wants to study in the two years she’s been here, she did that. She has always wanted to do more than contribute to the team in any way to make us succeed. ”
After learning about her from Capitals longtime video coach Brett Leonhard, Helmer, like Laviolet, said Hershey hired Engel-Natske based on experience and her interview. “You take her name out of her resume and put in any name, she was qualified,” he said.
Engel-Natske’s hiring comes in handy The Chicago Blackhawks promoted Megan Hunter to assistant general manager and The New Jersey Devils promoted Megan Dugan as director of player development. Hunter became the fourth woman to be selected as a GM assistant by joining Emily Castongway of Vancouver and Cami Granato as women currently in the job.
“It was really encouraging to see women in different roles, whether it’s a coach, whether it’s in management, athletic training and equipment management,” said Engel-Natske. “I hope that the door continues to open a little more and I hope in a few years it will not be such a big deal – it’s something like another hire.”
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Follow AP Hockey Writer Stephen Wino on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno
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