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Emily Engel-Natzke becomes first full-time female coach of an NHL team after Capitals promote her from Hershey

By Chris Cerullo

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June 30, 2022 1:40 pm

Emily Engel-Natzke has made hockey history yet again. The Caps announced on Thursday that she has been hired as their new NHL video coordinator, becoming officially the first full-time female coach for an NHL team according to the NHL Coaches’ Association.

Back in 2020, Engel-Natzke first made history when she became the first female coach to ever be hired in the Washington Capitals organization. She has served as the Hershey Bears video coach since then.

Engel-Natzke first made the move to Hershey when coach Jared Elenberger was promoted to the NHL level and will now take his place with the Caps as he has left to pursue opportunities elsewhere. It is assumed she will work alongside longtime assistant coach/video guru Brett ‘Stretch’ Leonhardt.

“It’s obviously really exciting,” she told The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir. “My time in Hershey has been awesome and I think it has really prepared me for this opportunity.

“It’s surreal,” she continued. “I’ve never really looked at myself through that lens and, I think if you may have asked me a week ago, I wouldn’t have wanted it to be a big deal. But with everything that’s going on geopolitically, I’m more so just honored to be the first. Hopefully, it just opens the door even further for people who want to get into this job and this profession.”

“We are extremely pleased to name Emily as our new video coordinator,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said in a press release. “Emily’s work ethic, skill set, and passion were displayed in her tenure with the Hershey Bears, and we feel she is ready and deserving of this opportunity. She will be a tremendous asset to our coaching staff.”

Engel-Natzke was originally hired from the University of Wisconsin where she was an assistant director of operations/video coordinator with the men’s and women’s hockey teams from 2015-17, and exclusively with the men’s team from 2017-20. During her time with the Badgers, Engel-Natzke produced game-by-game video breakdowns and did opponent pre-scouts, while also creating curated video content for players, recruits, and alumni. The Badgers’ women’s teams won regular-season and WCHA tournament titles in 2015-16 and 2016-17 with Emily on staff.

Engel-Natzke has also done work for USA Hockey in the past, serving as the video coach for the USA U-18 and Senior Women’s National Teams. She was part of the World Championship-winning staff for the U-18 team in 2018 in Russia, and the 2019 Senior Women’s team in Finland.

“Obviously it’s important and it’s significant,” Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette told El-Bashir about the hire. “But as we looked at this, we feel like we hired really a qualified person that we brought into the organization two years ago (who) came in and did an outstanding job. That’s what development is all about. We got the best person and that’s the most important thing. This was earned and deserved, and I’m excited for the opportunity to be able to work with Emily.”

Here’s the full press release from the Capitals:

Capitals Promote Emily Engel-Natzke to Video Coordinator

The Washington Capitals have promoted Emily Engel-Natzke to NHL video coordinator, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

“We are extremely pleased to name Emily as our new video coordinator,” said MacLellan. “Emily’s work ethic, skill set, and passion were displayed in her tenure with the Hershey Bears, and we feel she is ready and deserving of this opportunity. She will be a tremendous asset to our coaching staff.”

Engel-Natzke, 31, served as video coach for Washington’s AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears during the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. With Hershey, Engel-Natzke was responsible for producing opponent pre-scouts and coaching reports, as well as in-game and postgame video breakdowns.

The Fort Collins, Colorado native previously worked with the University of Wisconsin’s men’s and women’s hockey teams as video coordinator from 2015-2017 and as assistant director of operations/video coordinator with the men’s team from 2017-2020.

In addition, Engel-Natzke has worked with USA Hockey as a video coach for the U18 and Senior Women’s National Teams. Engel-Natzke was part of the gold-medal winning staffs for the U18 team at the 2018 Women’s World Championship in Dmitrov, Russia, and for the Senior Women’s team at the 2019 World Championship in Espoo, Finland.

Screenshot via @Capitals/Twitter

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