Weiss continues to focus on job as Colorado AHL assistant rather than historic promotion
In NHL.com's Q&A feature titled “Sitting Down with…,” we chatted with key players in the game to gain insight into their lives on and off the ice. This week, we feature Kim Weiss, an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Colorado Eagles. Weiss was named an assistant coach with the Eagles on Jan. 16, joining Seattle Kraken assistant Jessica Campbell as the only women to serve as full-time assistant coaches in the NHL or AHL.
Kim Weiss doesn't often think about the history she's made.
The 36-year-old keeps busy with her duties as an assistant coach for the Colorado Eagles, which includes breaking down 5-on-5 video — she was the team's video coach before being promoted — showing video to the team, pushing pucks and conducting drills.
“When the title changed and I got promoted, I left the general manager's (Kevin McDonald) office and I came back to work,” Weiss told NHL.com. “You don’t really think about that kind of thing at the moment, but obviously it’s an honor.
“I'm especially grateful just because of my background. I didn't play on the national team, and I didn't grow up in Minnesota or any type of hockey hotbed. So to get to this level and to have this legacy, for lack of a better word, coming from me being from Maryland as a college student at Trinity “As a kid playing Division III hockey, it makes me even more proud to show people that no matter where you start, you can get somewhere. And then you add all of that to being a woman and I'm really proud of my journey and I'm proud of all the people that have helped me get here.”
The Eagles are in second place in the AHL Pacific Division, and it's been quite a journey for Weiss. Last week, Weiss spoke to NHL.com about her new role working with the Avalanche and more female hockey players.
So how did you feel the day McDonald's called you into the office to tell you about your promotion?
“Honestly, it's a validation that you put in the work. That's what the general manager said to me. Last season, I had a different head coach (Aaron Schneckloth), we had a different assistant coach (Dan Hinot), they both moved on to the NHL, and they spoke highly of me in the summer to both our general manager and our new head coach (Mark Letestu). Getting to know Mark this year and working for him, everything he's heard about me has been confirmed through previous years and months of the year.
“I don’t quite know how the process of changing the title worked, but I think he went to Kevin and I know Kevin said this to me, ‘You’re doing all the work an assistant does, so why don’t we call you an assistant?’ I was already on the ice with the team, I ran Skill skating and scratch skating and showing (video). I'm doing everything an assistant coach does; I just have a different title so I'm really grateful that they gave me the opportunity to advance my career and continue to do what I love to do, which is coach hockey.”
Letestu also had you run a training session earlier in the season. How did this happen?
“Every assistant has (this opportunity). On top of that, he's been an assistant coach before and he wants to make sure that we all have a voice and a voice and that we don't just come to the ice for practice and say, 'Oh, here we go. Push some pucks. Put on my jersey for 20 minutes, push some pucks and jump off.' He wants to make sure we have a platform in front of the players.”
“It all started with Tim Branham, our longest-tenured assistant coach. It's nothing new or scary to any of us, just a different dynamic. Not every staff allows their assistant to be fully responsible for the entire practice. And then Derek (Army) took over it, and then I took one over the next week.”
