Amanda Kessel: Balancing Front Office Duties with Hockey Stardom

Right after Amanda Kessel helped lead Team USA to gold at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship, she was back in the office, resuming her duties as an Executive Fellow with the Penguins.

Balancing this role with her training as a professional women's hockey player over the past year has been a unique experience - one that's exciting, exhausting, and ultimately rewarding.

"It was different training than I was used to for a while, but I think I found ways that worked," Kessel said. "Sometimes, it almost helps you not be too crazed about training. Because it's hard when you're only training, you have nothing else to think about. So, I think you can overthink or overtrain sometimes. This all made me be really scheduled, really prep my week and days out. It was a good balance."

Through her Executive Management Program position, Kessel has had the opportunity to explore career paths with the Penguins partnership marketing, communications, and hockey operations departments.

"As a lot of athletes know, it's tough. You don't know exactly what path you want to take to get there, or what path is best, and so this really gives me the opportunity to figure it out," Kessel said. "I'm just here trying to soak up as much as possible, and then at the same time, trying not to forget about my experience and how can I help and give a different perspective that other people don't know."

While preparing for the future, the 31-year-old forward has also stayed in the present when it comes to her playing career. On average - especially when ramping up for a tournament - Kessel tried to skate five times a week, taking whatever ice time she can get.

Many times, it's been through the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena, where the organization hosts periodic staff scrimmages for employees each month depending on the team's schedule and ice availability. Other times, it's been at Ice Castle Arena in Castle Shannon.

"I built a relationship with them, so I texted them frequently," said Kessel, who usually kept her equipment in her car during the season. "They helped me out a lot just with ice time and training. There were times I skated at midnight, then depending on work schedule, it could be either early morning or lunch. So it was really whenever I could."

Kessel's first big international event after coming to Pittsburgh was the 2022 IIHF Women's World Championship, which had a delayed start because of the 2022 Winter Olympics, taking place from Aug. 25-Sep. 4 in Denmark.

At that point, it made the most sense for Kessel to get her ice time and physical therapy in before going to the office, often walking out of the rink in her work clothes and going straight to work with partnership marketing.

"It was definitely different in how to manage my time even better," she said. "But it was good to have a little balance in my life, and it was one of the best tournaments of my life."

Kessel finished second in scoring with six goals, 11 assists and 17 points, and was named to the Media All-Star Team. While Canada skated to a 3-2 victory over the Americans in the final, Kessel said it felt great to play intense, competitive hockey again a few months after the Games, and she felt good about the direction Team USA was heading.

"We had a few new faces and a change of coaching staff, so I think we all came back refreshed," Kessel said at the time. "It was a great tournament for our team. Not the outcome that we wanted, but I felt like we got better as a team throughout the tournament, and we're really only getting started as a team."

Kessel moved over to communications once the Penguins season started, which made her schedule even more hectic, as she had to work around Pittsburgh's schedule. She took part in the 2022-23 Rivalry Series events and games with the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) whenever she could, while working practices, games and team events.

"That was definitely exhausting," Kessel said. "I would hardly be able to function later on at night. But if I didn't prepare that way, I definitely would have been disappointed in myself and not thought that I was doing everything possible. And I like to keep busy."

Now, Kessel is currently in hockey operations, and has liked every facet of it. She has spent a lot of time with the analytics personnel, which has been a new experience for her.

"I never was exposed to that as a player," she said. "If the analytics department is looking at a player and they're looking at some of the numbers and they make their predications and thoughts about them, I'll take a look at video and see how it kind of matches up. Do we think the same things about these players? A lot of times, our thoughts do match up, so that's been great for myself."

Kessel took some time off in April to represent the United States at the most recent IIHF Women's World Championship, which took place in Brampton, Canada. She had another terrific performance, picking up five goals and nine points in five games while playing on the top line with Hilary Knight and Abby Roque. They led the United States to a 6-3 win over Canada in the Gold Medal Game, with Knight scoring a hat trick to become the first player in Women's Worlds history to reach 100 points.

It was Kessel's fourth gold medal at Worlds (to go along with three silver), and second gold north of the border, after winning 10 years earlier in Calgary. "There's something about beating Canada in Canada that makes it even more special," Kessel said with a smile.

She's always felt grateful for the chance to continue playing at an elite level after winning three NCAA championships at the University of Minnesota, as many women are done after college due to lack of opportunities.

So as the three-time Olympic medalist has progressed along in what's been an incredibly decorated career with USA Hockey, Kessel understands the magnitude of those opportunities. And for her to play such a big role in such a big victory was a point of pride.

"It felt good to still prove that you're a really good player and deserve to be there," Kessel said. "I think I'm considered older for women's hockey, unfortunately. In the grand scheme, I don't think I'm old, but it's just that people have had to stop playing. So it felt good just to prove that there's this thing about age.

"Maybe you lose a small step, but I also think I continually am learning. There's still things every single day that I can do better, and from seeing so many situations, like, I really do think that experience matters."

CHECK IT OUT: Video: Getting to Know: Amanda Kessel

The Penguins have been so fortunate to be the beneficiaries of that experience during Kessel's time in Pittsburgh. It's a place that's special to both Amanda and her older brother Phil, and after this stint working behind the scenes, she's grown to love it even more.

"It's exceeded expectations, that's for sure," she said. "I've just always been on the other side of it, and then obviously, our operations are run much smaller, whether it was college or USA Hockey. So just seeing everything that goes into the planning, the year, being able to see the work that every single person is doing and how difficult it is to run an organization. Like, it's just massive. It was really cool that I was able to just kind of see and get to know the entire organization."