Keep Opening Doors

It should be stated upfront in this article that I am a Florence Schelling fan. I've tried for years to get her on The Hockey Show to chat with her, but her crazy schedule always had her on the move and doing something extraordinary. Her work on the ice as a member of Team Switzerland thrust her into the spotlight as she backstopped the plucky Swiss team to a bronze medal at the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship and added an Olympic bronze medal to her resumé two years later. Where ever she's gone and everywhere she's played, she's written her name into some team's history book, and it was added to another one today when SC Bern of the Swiss National League named her as the club's new general manager!

"For us, it was important to have a young, intelligent and visionary person," SC Bern CEO Marc Luthi said in a statement. "In our thoughts, it was irrelevant whether this person would be male or female. More important is that the person knows something about hockey."

Perhaps there needs to be some caution thrown out here as we've seen former players move into management roles while having little management experience only to find out that the learning curve is steep. Players like Mike Milbury and Réjean Houle were very capable players on the ice, but their general management histories are filled with mistakes and poor decisions with their limited management experiences in hockey, so the cautionary tales are out there.

I, however, believe that Florence Schelling's hiring today by SC Bern will see the Swiss club regain its normal spot near the top of the standings after a down year last season where they finished ninth out of 12 teams. You might be wondering how that can be with the greenest GM in the league running the ship, but I believe that Florence's reach within the game when it comes to the contacts and friendships she has made gives her a great advantage. Combine that with knowing how the Swiss game is played thanks to her two seasons with EHC Bulach of Switzerland's third-tier pro league and her work in guarding the nets for the U17 and U20 Zurich Lions teams in Swiss junior men's hockey, and it would seem that Florence has the knowledge to start recruiting players and hiring coaches to help SC Bern ascend through the standings once more.

On top of that, she's had to develop a keen eye for recognizing talent as a coach for Switzerland's U18 women's team in the last two years with her taking the head coaching position with the squad last season. Having the contacts she's made at the Swiss Hockey Federation will allow her to possibly find players playing in the lower leagues that might deserve a look in the top league while getting some inside scouting on younger players who will represent Switzerland at the international junior tournaments. Her contacts back at Northeastern may help her find college players who want to make the jump across to Switzerland as well, and she does have contacts in the NHL world as well.

Being well-connected through the hockey world will help Schelling in finding the best talent.

She'll need to start using those connections possibly as her first task will be to find a new head coach for the team. Hans Kossmann was named as the interim head coach after Kari Jalonen was fired in January, so there will be some evaluation done there, I assume. If Schelling decides to explore the coaching market, there are a number of coaches across Europe who would jump at the chance to join SC Bern, so I imagine she'll have a number of excellent candidates in the pool from which to choose.

For those celebrating Schelling's hiring as the first woman to be the general manager of a men's professional hockey team, it is an important moment when it comes to closing the gender gap that exists in hockey. There is no denying that. She's now in a position to show the world that running a professional hockey team matters not on one's gender, but on the ability to do the job effectively.

The question that really needs to be asked is how much slack she'll be given as she learns on the fly. If SC Bern stumbles whenever hockey comes back and they decide to go one-and-done with Schelling at the helm, a lot of people may label this as a publicity stunt while casting doubts on both Schelling's abilities and any future women's abilities if they desire to manage a hockey club. As unfair as that is, that's the unfortunate part of our society, particularly in the world of professional men's sports.

I'm here to see Florence Schelling not only succeed, but lead SC Bern to a dynasty of wins and championships. She's going to have to work hard to make up some of the things she needs to learn, but she's always found a way to succeed when the odds were stacked against her. I have a feeling that Florence will surprise a lot of people not because she'll find success, but rather how quickly she'll find it. And when she does, I suspect that the job opportunities in hockey - not the NHL immediately, but other levels of hockey - will suddenly grow exponentially for women as teams look to replicate Bern's successes.

Florence Schelling might be the first women to be named as general manager of a men's professional hockey team, but I'm looking at all the doors that are going to open for women across the hockey spectrum with this hiring. That's the bigger picture here, and it started with a woman who never once saw a barrier she couldn't overcome.

Congratulations, Florence, and here's hoping you lead SC Bern to all sorts of success!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!