A Hall Of Fame Day

With the calendar squarely in the middle of 2022, it would appear progress is finally - FINALLY! - being made. One could be forgiven if one looked at the NHL coaching and management rosters and thought it was 1922 still, but it would appear that the Old Boys' Club that was once firmly entrenched in the NHL's inner circle might now be figuring out that doing things differently may be good for themselves and the game. It's taken far too long, but the announcements of a first general manager who is a person of colour and the first woman who will stand on the bench are benchmarks that were so very overdue.

Miek Grier's path to becoming the first person of colour as a general manager might not be so obvious, but the new San Jose Sharks GM is an astute mind. We can point to his 1060 NHL games as being the basis of his hiring as he's been traded several times and signed a number of contracts after negotiating for the terms of that contract, but that would be selling him short in a number of ways. While lots of former players become GMs, there aren't many who bring the resumé of Grier.

He worked as a scout with the Chicago Blackhawks from 2014-18 while serving as an assistant coach at St. Sebastian's School in the United States High School Prep Hockey League. He worked two seasons with the New Jersey Devils in the same role before joining the New York Rangers as a hockey operations advisor under former Boston University teammate Chris Drury. Grier has seen the inner workings of how NHL teams are run, and knows what it takes to be successful after earning a Stanley Cup ring with Chicago in 2015 and seeing the Rangers turn their franchise around last season.

Perhaps more than that, though, is that Grier has always been regarded as a hard-working guy who is generally a really good person, and he has used the lessons that his father, Bobby Grier, taught him after a 41-year career in the NFL.

"I think the main thing my father instilled in us was his work ethic," Grier said at his introductory press conference. "The time he put in, he often would be off to work before we left for school, and sometimes he wouldn't get home till after dinner or when we were ready to get in bed. "His belief that you treat people the right way. If you want to have a winning franchise, it starts with how you treat people. And his ability to never leave a stone unturned. He would stay up till all hours and go scout, wherever it took him. Whatever needed to be done, to get the job done."

Treating people the right way to build a winning franchise? Is this the NHL we're talking about where scandals seem to outnumber the good stories on any given day?

In a less facetious tone, Grier won't go into this cold as he's likely seen and heard his dad talk about his work as a front-office executive in the NFL. He may have also heard his brother, Chris Grier, talk about managing the Miami Dolphins after he was named to the general manager's position in 2016. What shouldn't be forgotten, though, is that Mike Grier is well-versed in hockey, well connected in his network, and well educated from a lifetime of learning and being a student of the game.

"I welcome Mike as the general manager of the Sharks," Owner Hasso Plattner added. "Mike's successful career on the ice speaks for itself, but what impressed me the most were his leadership qualities and his overwhelming desire to win. Mike is aware of the high standards of success that are expected in San Jose and is committed to help us quickly return to that level."

Grier's leadership, his desire to win, his knowledge of the game, and his dedication to his craft were all reasons why the Sharks hired Mike Grier to lead the team into a new era. He was, in the mind of the Sharks' front office, the best candidate, and his hiring has nothing to do with the colour of his skin. Let's not make this into something it's not... with a small caveat.

Diversity is a strength because it allows new ideas to enter the conversation and new ways to get things done. It's taken way too long for a person of colour to reach the level Mike Grier has in the game of hockey, and I want him to not only do well, but to overachieve in his efforts in order to kill any doubts from naysayers. I'm not a Sharks fan by any means, but I want to see the Sharks return to their winning ways because Mike Grier did an incredible job.

Not far from where Mike Grier was being introduced, though, was another press conference as the AHL's Coachella Valley Firebirds hired a new assistant coach today, and it deserves some mentioning because this hiring also kicked down a barrier that had been in place for far too long.

Jessica Campbell, who has both played and coached at an extremely high level in and outside of Canada, will serve as an assistant coach on Dan Bylsma's staff when the Firebirds take the ice next season! Campbell was set to be a guest coach at the New York Rangers' development camp later this summer, but the Seattle Kraken one-upped the Rangers in naming Campbell as a full-time coach. Again, it's a long-time coming, but Dan Bylsma made it very clear that Campbell was the most qualified candidate in getting the position.

"I wanted a coaching staff," Bylsma told ESPN's Emily Kaplan, "that had a ton of passion for the players, a willingness to put in the work with them, and a plan to help them develop, because our job is developing players for the Seattle Kraken. We just wanted that person, and Jessica was the person who best exemplified that. It's what she's all about."

As a woman who will be visible on AHL benches across North America, she will be visible to a huge number of young girls who will see her coaching men thanks to the "family-friendly" atmosphere of AHL teams. This will change the way that women are seen in and around the game as Campbell will be running drills, giving instructions, and helping Kraken prospects find their top games.

"Growing up, I never dreamed of coaching," Campbell told Kaplan, "because I didn't see it and therefore didn't know what that path looked like. But for young athletes now, it's so important to have that visibility for them to understand they can literally be anything they want. Some of the guys I will be coaching, their daughters can now watch them have a female coach. And that opens up the conversation, which can inspire young girls for something they might not have seen as possible."

That statement - "something they might not have seen as possible" - is why the hiring of Mike Grier as general manager by the San Jose Sharks and the addition of Jessica Campbell to Dan Bylsma's staff by the Seattle Kraken are so important to the game in 2022. Both Grier and Campbell represent new ideas, different approaches, and needed diversity within the NHL after having been run by white men for so long. Having these two incredible individuals contributing to the game will make the game better because they have such different experiences than the men who ran the game for so long.

I called this "a hall of fame day" in the title of the article, and it is based on the ceiling that were smashed by both Grier and Campbell. I have a feeling, though, that we'll be talking about their list of successes when they finally are called to the Hockey Hall of Fame because both have a great shot at not only being the first to break a barrier, but to set the bar high for anyone who follows.

Heed Jessica Campbell's words, kids: if you work hard and hone youur craft, you "can literally be anything" you want. And that's the most important lesson to take from today's historic hirings.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!