Blackhawks name Kendall Coyne Schofield player development coach

A decorated Olympian and accomplished player is joining the Chicago Blackhawks organization.

The team hired Kendall Coyne Schofield as a player development coach and youth hockey growth specialist Monday, making her the first woman to occupy the former role for the club.

"As a new coach, you need to earn the trust and the respect of the players, and I plan to do that right away," she said, according to The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno. "While I might be the first female coach a lot of these players have worked with, I don't see it being an issue."

Her duties will include helping to develop players as well as evaluating and scouting possible prospects for the coaching staff of the Rockford IceHogs, the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate.

Coyne Schofield recently worked as an in-game analyst for NBC Sports. She became the first woman ever to compete in the NHL's All-Star Skills Competition in 2019, besting Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller's time in the fastest skater event.

The 28-year-old Illinois-born forward is a member of the U.S. national women's hockey team, having won gold with the squad at the 2018 Olympics and silver at the 2014 Games in addition to six World Championship titles.

Chicago now employs three women in its hockey operations department.

On Monday, the Blackhawks also promoted Meghan Hunter to the dual roles of director of hockey administration and amateur scout. Hunter was previously general manager Stan Bowman's senior executive assistant. The Blackhawks hired Mary DeBartolo as a hockey analytics coordinator in 2019, according to ESPN's Emily Kaplan.

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