Christine Bumstead once took Panthers coach Paul Maurice hunting. And her coaching career took off

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Christine Bumstead’s path toward being an assistant coach in a preseason game for the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers started in a most unusual way.

She went deer hunting.

Her journey took off when hockey — and the rest of the world — had stopped in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Paul Maurice, then the coach of the Winnipeg Jets, knew Bumstead’s father and decided to join him on a hunting trip. On the way there, she and Maurice talked hockey, talked philosophy, talked systems. The drive took 25 minutes. Maurice was blown away.

“We got out of the car and I went, ‘Oh, that’s a coach,’” Maurice said.

Fast forward about four years. Bumstead was invited to be part of a development camp with the Panthers this summer, then invited back for training camp that started last week and on Sunday — to her surprise — she was behind the bench with the Cup champs for a preseason game against Nashville.

“It’s probably the best seats you can get,” Bumstead said after Florida's win. “It’s super special to me.”

Bumstead is part of the NHL Coaches Association Female Coaches Program, which is working with about 100 women this year on their development in the game — including Melissa Samoskevich, the sister of Panthers prospect Mackie Samoskevich. Bumstead leaves Florida this week to get back to her primary jobs, those being an assistant coach for the women’s team at the University of Saskatchewan and performance coach for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. She also serves as head coach of Canada's national deaf women's hockey team.

When Bumstead — who also has experience as a teacher — started to focus on coaching, she thought it might be short-term. It didn’t take her long to change her thinking. She’s now hoping it’s her calling. Maurice helped get her into the NHLCA program and has spoken highly of her ever since.

“I played competitively, and I thought I was driven, but now as a coach I’m realizing that I had no drive as a player at all in comparison,” Bumstead said. “I am way more competitive as a coach than I ever was as a player. So, I just think that’s obviously I’m on the right side of the bench. I didn’t know that until I started coaching at a higher level. And I realized I had the juice for this way more than I ever did as a player.”

There is some real momentum for women in the NHL. This season, Jessica Campbell will make some history as the first on-the-bench assistant coach in league history. She was hired by the Seattle Kraken this summer after two years as an assistant for the team’s AHL affiliate. That came after Emily Engel-Natzke was hired by the Washington Capitals in 2022 as video coach, making her the first woman with a full-time assistant role in the league.

Other women have gotten preseason opportunities as assistants in recent years and the numbers of women in the NHL in front-office or some sort of coaching roles is soaring. There will be a female head coach in the NHL, Maurice said. It’s not if. It’s when.

“That day is coming,” Maurice said. “Certainly, there’s some experience and expertise that you have to acquire before you get to be an NHL head coach. And now there are women that are getting that experience and getting that expertise.”

Bumstead is certain she’ll leave Florida as a better coach. She thought she was detail-oriented before getting to this training camp. But seeing how Maurice and the Panthers prepare with precise detail every day, combined with getting an up-close view of Matthew Tkachuk, Aleksander Barkov, Sam Reinhart and the rest of the Cup champs, quickly gave her a very different perspective.

“I’m definitely bringing back so much more than I thought,” Bumstead said.

Training camp is like a dream for coaches who love nothing more than sitting around with others and talking hockey all day. Bumstead has gotten that experience over the last few days with Florida, plus time being part of the on-ice instruction. Maurice didn’t tell her until Saturday that she would be behind the bench on Sunday.

A half-hour after the game ended, she was still excited. “It means I got the full experience, for sure,” Bumstead said.

Having Bumstead next to him wasn’t a throwaway move for Maurice on Sunday. He wanted Bumstead to see the NHL game from that perspective. He also wanted people in hockey to see Bumstead behind the bench of the Cup champs.

“Coaches will view the game a lot of times better from the bench than they will from up top,” Maurice said. “It’s not what we’re used to seeing. So, she gets it. She’s a good coach. And I think, when you talk about opportunity and maybe exposure as well, she’s going to get an opportunity to be a head coach somewhere down the line. … She’ll get there.”

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