Hurricanes’ Alyssa Gagliardi makes strong first impression as development camp coach
Her blonde hair is pulled back into a low, messy bun and tucked away with a gray and red Carolina Hurricanes hat. She wears simple, gold hoop earrings, contrasting her black jacket and pants, as she skates with the other Hurricane development camp coaches.
Raleigh native Alyssa Gagliardi has made history before, and now she’s getting her first taste of coaching the next generation of Carolina Hurricanes, invited to be a part of the team’s development camp coaching staff through the NHLCA Female Coaches’ Development Program.
“I’m not looking at as, ‘I’m a female coach here,’ ” Gagliardi said Tuesday. “I’m just another coach as part of staff and I think elite athletes are elite athletes, whether male or female. I’ve been exposed to people on both sides. And to me, it’s just being able to add value, add tools to the toolbox for some of these players and help out as much as I can.”
The franchise announced that Gagliardi would be joining the coaching lineup shortly before finalizing the development camp schedule last Wednesday. She’s working alongside Peter Harrold, the Hurricanes’ defensive development coach, goaltender development coach Jason Muzzatti, NHL goaltending coach Paul Schonfelder and assistant coach Jeff Daniels.
The announcement added that Gagliardi will come back to Raleigh and work with the Hurricanes’ coaching staff “at some point during the 2023-24 season.”
“We’re excited to learn from Alyssa, and we think her vast experience as a player and coach at both the collegiate and professional levels will be a great asset to our camp,” Hurricanes president and general manager Don Waddell said in the news release. “This is a wonderful opportunity for Alyssa to continue improving as a coach while providing a fresh perspective to our players and coaches.”
At the first day of on-ice sessions at development camp Tuesday, a group of young girls gathered, watching Gagliardi on the ice. She said she noticed the young group eagerly observing from the stands, knowing that it was important for those girls to see a female coach on the ice with soon-to-be professional hockey players.
“I want to just make it as normal as possible,” She said. “So hopefully, someday there’s not all these cameras here, you know, making too big of a deal. I think it’ll be normal.”
Gagliardi’s impact on the Raleigh hockey community makes her a unique addition to the development camp staff. She spent two years as the first girls’ and women’s youth and amateur hockey specialist for the franchise. She also worked as the director of Women’s Student-Athlete Advancement to help get female hockey players competing in the NCAA.
A former professional athlete herself, Gagliardi spent five years competing with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) and the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). She won the inaugural Isobel Cup with the Boston Pride during the 2015-16 season, earning six assists that season.
Gagliardi played for Cornell from 2010-14 and was named captain her final season.
Her desire to get women in the sport was recognized in the 2016-17 season, when she received the NWHL’s Foundation Award for her impact on her community and for improving the hockey culture.
Gagliardi slowly worked her way through the professional coaching market, including spending part of last season with the ECHL’s Maine Mariners as a skills development coach. Simultaneously, she was the first female coach at Division III Neumann University. Gagliardi was the only female coach on any collegiate bench last season.
Gagliardi said her goal during development camp is to learn just as much as she can coach. She also was coaching alongside Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind’Amour on Tuesday during the skills sessions. Brind’Amour said she’s blended in with the Carolina staff so far, and that she’s shown effort to learn during the on-ice sessions.
“It’s just, ‘OK, you’re in the coach’s office and let’s see what you got,’ ” Brind’Amour said. “And she throws her opinion on, you know, what drills you want to throw in.”
Gagliardi said coming off the ice after Day 1, her experience is part of her next steps of growing.
“She’s a coach, and she’s good enough, then she’ll be able to keep doing it,” Brind’Amour said. “She’s definitely passionate about what she wants to do. And that’s the key. If you want to keep learning, you’ll have a chance.”
This story was originally published July 11, 2023 at 1:29 PM.