Phil Kessel's Sister Finally Makes the NHL

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Matt Garland
April 20, 2022 (4:10 PM)

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USA woman's hockey star Amanda Kessel is putting away the skates to join the Pittsburgh Penguins executive management program to put her on track to working full-time in an NHL front office. The Penguins have officially named Amanda Kessel as the first participant in their new Penguins' Executive Management Program.

I am excited to learn from one of the best franchises in professional sports. The Penguins presented me with the opportunity to use my experience and love for hockey in a whole new capacity and I look forward to making the most of this program.

Kessel is excited to learn on the job with the Penguins where she will work alongside team executives in hockey operations, marketing and broadcast departments.

The Penguins are the first team to run this executive program in the NHL. Other teams following suit could open the door for more women and minorities to advance to management roles, which are still held almost exclusively across the league by white men.

The Penguins have always taken the lead in innovation, and this is an example of us looking ahead as an organization to drive diversity and inclusion in the National Hockey League. Our new executive management program gives unprecedented access to women and minorities to attain permanent, front office executive positions in hockey and other professional sports.

Kessel also said then that Granato and others inspired her and teammates to envision working in the NHL.

If there's a way, any place you want to stay in the game, and especially at the National Hockey League level, that's kind of everybody's dream. We didn't see those opportunities or it was more of a dream, but now it's a reality for a bunch, and it kind of paves the way for the rest of us, knowing that if you're not playing there are other avenues to still stay in the game. And that's huge for us. It's people like Cammi that are paving the way and hopefully following in her footsteps.

Kessel, 30, represented the U.S. at the past three Winter Olympics, winning a gold medal in 2018 and taking home silver in 2014 and 2022.

She joins the team where her brother Phil Kessel won the Stanley Cup twice. Phil played four seasons with the Penguins.