Coyotes Hire First Woman Coach in NHL

By ESPN

The Arizona Coyotes have hired Dawn Braid as their skating coach and say she is believed to be the first full-time female coach in NHL history.

Braid has a long association with the NHL.

She worked part time for the Coyotes last year and has served as a skating consultant with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Anaheim Ducks, Buffalo Sabres and Calgary Flames.

Braid also spent seven years with the Athletes Training Center as director of skating development. Among the skaters she worked with there is New York Islanders center John Tavares.

"It's something that I've wanted to see happen," she said in a statement released by the Coyotes. "The fact that they respect what I do enough to name me as a full-time coach, or to name me as the first female coach in the NHL, I take a ton of pride in that. I've worked very hard for this opportunity. It's been going on for years and I just look forward to going even further with it."

The hiring is the latest in a series of breakthroughs for women in men's sports.