HOLDING COURT: Courtney Kessel, left, speaks at a press conference during her time as the head coach of the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL). Kessel was recently named as the head coach of the Princeton University women’s hockey team, succeeding Cara Gardner Morey who left Princeton to serve as the general manager of the Vancouver expansion franchise in the PWHL. Taking the Princeton job marks a homecoming for Kessel as she was an assistant coach for the Tigers from 2019-23 before taking the helm of the Fleet. (Photo provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)
By Bill Alden
During her college years at the University of New Hampshire, Courtney Kessel kept busy starring for the Wildcat women’s hockey team.
Standout defender Kessel, nee Birchard, tallied 81 points on 34 goals and 47 assists from 2007-11, earning Hockey East All-Star honors along the way.
But Kessel made time to teach others the game while she was excelling on the ice.
“Even while I was in college, I would help run summer camps all the time,” said Kessel. “Every single week in the summer I was coaching hockey. I fell in love with it when I was really young. I really enjoyed it.”
After wrapping up her college career, Kessel starred for the Brampton Thunder of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and had three stints on the Canadian Senior National Team where she helped the squad win gold in 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships and silver medals in 2013 and 2015.
Kessel turned her focus to coaching, starting with high school and the junior level with the Oakville Hornets before becoming the head coach of the Toronto Furies in the CWHL in 2018. She also served as an assistant coach for rhe Canada women’s national Under-18 team and helped it win silver in the 2018 IIHF U-18 Women’s World Championships.
“I think all of those opportunities helped me to just grow as a coach and also as a person,” said Kessel.
After the CWHL folded, Kessel came to Princeton University where she worked as an assistant coach for the women’s hockey team from 2019-23 and enjoyed helping her players grow.
“What I loved about it was the mentorship development side of it when they are at that age and how you can impact their lives,” said Kessel, reflecting on that experience. “They are intelligent women that are driven academically and athletically. I really enjoyed that side of things.”
In 2023, Kessel headed back to the pro level to be the head coach of the Boston Fleet of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
“It was completely different, a little more cut throat and it was more transactional,” said Kessel, who had another stint the Canadian women’s U-18 program, becoming head coach of the team and guiding to it a gold medal at the 2023 IIHF U-18 Women’s World Championships. “There was less development, you are coaching the best players in the world. A lot of them have been to the Olympics. They are just older. It was more Xs and Os, hockey-based. I really did miss the developmental side of things.”
Now, looking to focus again on developing players, Kessel, 36, returned to Princeton last month to take the helm of the women’s hockey program, succeeding Cara Gardner Morey, who left the post to serve as the general manager of the Vancouver expansion franchise in the PWHL.
“It is just a tremendous opportunity, it is one of the best academic schools in the entire world,” said Kessel. “To be able to do that and also be athletically gifted and trying to win championships, Princeton offers the total package. I had spent four years here so I know the players and it has a special place in my heart for sure. I think the development side and the mentorship was a really big thing for me. It is just the real reason why I coach.”
Kessel has hit the ground running as she has taken the reins of the team.
“I was so excited, I couldn’t wait to get going,” said Kessel. “I know there are lot of things that need to happen before November. We are moving as a family, we have two kids. It is getting through this recruiting class, just coming in literally after June 15. It is learning the numbers, the names. I have been out of those rinks for two years when I was in the professional world.”
Based on her previous experience with the team, Kessel is fired up to begin working again with the Princeton kids.
“They are just driven, you know what you are getting into when you come to Princeton,” said Kessel. “You know it is going to be hard academically and athletically. We want to win championships as well. The demand on these student athletes, it’s a lot. But they are intelligent and they care about other things outside the rink.”
Being part of the coaching staff that guided the Tigers to a 26-6-1 record in the 2019-20 season and the ECAC Hockey tournament championship before the rest of the season was canceled due to global pandemic was a highlight for Kessel.
“COVID makes that season even more special than it was at the time,” said Kessel. “We share that mutual disappointment of we thought we were on the verge of something really big. It was awesome to beat Q-pac in game three in OT (in the ECACH quarterfinal series). Cornell was ranked No. 1 at the time when we beat them in the ECAC final. It was super exciting. I had coached quite a few of those players before even coming into Princeton. I had coached Sarah Fillier, Kayla Fillier, Claire Thompson, Cassie Reale, and Dani Calabrese with either Hockey Canada or the Oakville juniors.”
Kessel took some valuable lessons from her time working with Gardner-Morey.
“Cara brings an energy every single day but it is just making sure you are having conversations,” said Kessel. “Sure we all want to win championships but at the end of the day we play this sport to become the humans we want to be. I just think the team atmosphere side of things and the culture was a really big thing.”
That focus on culture was the main theme of Kessel’s initial message to the Tiger players as she returned to the program.
“I have talked to basically the whole team, I am really excited and looking forward to being back with them and seeing what we can do,” said Kessel. “This is going to be our family. We are going to make this a place where we excel on the ice but off the ice as well.”
In order to get the Tigers to excel on the ice this winter, Kessel will be emphasizing an attention to detail.
“I am a pretty big habits-based coach with things like the details of back checking, possession changes and face-off details,” said Kessel. “I want to play a physical, fast game. That is the approach I took with Boston as well. It depends on the personnel.”
With a core of juniors leading Princeton to a solid 18-12-2 campaign last winter, Kessel is excited about the personnel on hand.
“I think we can score goals and score more than the other team,” said Kessel. “Our defense are young but super, super talented. I am excited to watch our senior class. They are the class I had when I left- Katherine Khramtsov, Emerson O’Leary, Jane Kuehl, Issy Wunder and Taylor Hyland- and I will get to see where they have come from over the last three seasons. I am really excited to be back, we want to win championships at Princeton.”