Just in time for the playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins added Kessel. Probably not the one you’re thinking, though.
The organization announced Wednesday that Olympic gold medalist Amanda Kessel will be the inaugural participant in what the Penguins are calling their new executive management program.
A three-time Olympic medalist for Team USA in women’s ice hockey, the 30-year-old Kessel is the younger sister of two-time Penguins’ Stanley Cup champion Phil Kessel. Phil Kessel was a fan-favorite scoring winger for the Penguins from 2015-19.
In a release Wednesday, the Penguins describe the executive management program as “a one-year opportunity to work alongside executives within the Penguins partnership, marketing, communication and broadcast departments, as well as hockey operations.”
Kessel said Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse has multiple times over the years recruited Kessel to work for the organization.
“He’s really the main reason that brought me here,” Kessel said Wednesday, “and I obviously know Pittsburgh a little bit and know what a great city and town and sports atmosphere is here. So I am excited to get going and join the team and really bring as much as I can to the program.”
The Penguins say the executive management program focuses on women and minority athletes. It will include a rotation through different departments within the organization to expose participants to myriad aspects of the sports business.
“Amanda has the experience, drive, and education to be a fantastic front-office executive in professional sports, and we are honored to welcome her to Pittsburgh,” Morehouse said in a prepared statement.
Amanda Kessel, wearing a Penguins cap, complimenting Pittsburgh as a hockey city and sports city, getting to know it when brother Phil played here pic.twitter.com/bqTUTgoE4E
— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) March 12, 2022
Kessel, 30, has represented the United States at various international tournaments, and she plays professionally with the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.
Kessel was in Pittsburgh last month for an exhibition game between USA and Canada, less then three weeks after the Canadians beat the Americans in the gold-medal game at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
“This is going to provide a great opportunity for female athletes, female hockey players, to continue to participate in their passion, that being the sport,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “The mentorship program will provide lots of opportunity for women like Amanda to get exposed to all the different aspects of the business.”
Phil Kessel is in his third season with the Arizona Coyotes, to whom the Penguins traded him after the 2018-19 season.
Amanda Kessel said a long-term goal of hers would be to serve as an NHL general manager. She noted the Vancouver Canucks have hired two women as assistant general managers this year.
“Growing up, I didn’t really think that was a possibility,” she said. “But like I always say, ‘If you see it, you can be it.’ ”
