The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Wednesday that three-time U.S. Olympian Amanda Kessel will be the inaugural participant in the franchise’s new executive management program.
The program will focus on women and minority athletes, giving them a one-year opportunity to work alongside team executives in different departments within the organization. Some of those areas include hockey operations, marketing and communications.
“I am excited to learn from one of the best franchises in professional sports,” said Kessel. “The Penguins presented me with the opportunity to use my experience and love for hockey in a whole new capacity and I look forward to making the most of this program.”
Kessel and future participants will be exposed to all aspects of the sports business and the program will also include “graduate school educational and community service components.”
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Kessel was most recently the official ambassador of the New York Rangers’ girls youth hockey program with the goal of growing female participation in the sport.
Penguins president and CEO David Morehouse got to know Kessel when her brother Phil played for the team from 2015-2019.
“We’ve had good luck signing Kessels,” Morehouse told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
The 30-year-old Kessel was part of the 2014, 2018 and 2022 U.S. women’s Olympic hockey teams. She helped deliver gold in 2018 in Pyeongchang and won silver this past February at the Beijing Games. The University of Minnesota graduate and 2013 Patty Kazmaier Award winner as collegiate player of the year, also won three golds and three silvers at the IIHF Women’s World Championship.
Kessel is not retired from playing and is part of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.