Photo Illustration by Ann White, Photography by AP Photo/Ben Margot
After Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon bruised his foot before last year’s NHL All-Star skills competition, Kendall Coyne Schofield was tapped to compete in the fastest skater event—the first woman ever to do so. A hockey player on the U.S. women’s national team and Olympic gold medalist, Coyne Schofield posted a time of 14.346 seconds and earned a standing ovation. Though the Chicagoland native doesn’t yet know where she’ll be watching this year’s game, she hopes to see more women competing in the future
On other women breaking barriers in hockey:
“Recently, Cammi Granato became the first woman scout in the NHL for the Seattle franchise team. Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle became the first woman assistant coach in NCAA men’s ice hockey. And I recently skated with the Columbus Blue Jackets at a pregame skate with my former skills coach Kenny McCudden.”
On the most memorable part of competing:
“It was amazing to see so many young kids inspired by that moment, whether they were sending me videos of them skating a lap of their own, picking up hockey for the first time, parents telling me their son wants to skate as fast as me or young girls telling me they want to skate in the NHL All-Star Game or go to the Olympics like I did.”
On the skills that hockey teaches kids:
“Communication, teamwork, perseverance, and commitment.”
