Kim Weiss was promoted to assistant coach of the Colorado Eagles, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, on Friday.
The 36-year-old joins Seattle Kraken assistant Jessica Campbell as the only women in the NHL or AHL to be a full-time assistant coach. Campbell initially had been hired as an assistant with Coachella Valley, the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, in 2022 before joining the NHL staff in 2024.
Weiss was hired as Eagles video coach Aug. 7, 2024. Last season, they had 94 points (43-21-5-3), tied for the third most in the league, and they reached the Pacific Division Final, where they lost to Abbotsford (Vancouver Canucks) in five games.
This season Colorado is second in the Pacific Division with 48 points (22-8-1-3), two points behind Ontario (Los Angeles Kings), but Colorado has played three fewer games.
“I think the most important thing was the title matched her responsibilities, and I think what started out last season under (then coach) Aaron Schneekloth, like Kim was on a really good growth cycle,” said Kevin McDonald, who is the Eagles general manager and assistant general manager of the Avalanche. “But coming in, I think, with Mark [Letestu] this year, it’s gone to a much higher level where she’s doing pre-scouts, she’s going on the ice for practice, she’s working with the development team and the coaches on post-practice stuff as part of the development plan. Obviously, she was on the bench there the other night, so I think it’s just more she’s put in the work, and the title didn’t really capture what she was doing on a daily basis.”
A native of Potomac, Maryland, Weiss was a guest coach for the Avalanche in 2023-24 and has worked in various capacities at Avalanche development camp for four straight seasons.
Weiss played forward at Trinity College from 2007-11, and was team captain as a junior and senior. She was a first-team All-American and NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) Player of the Year as a senior in 2010-11. As a junior, she helped lead Trinity to an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time. Weiss was a four-time All-NESCAC honoree and remains the Trinity women’s hockey team’s all-time leading scorer with 108 points (62 goals, 46 assists).
Prior to joining the Avalanche, she was assistant coach for the Trinity College men’s hockey team in 2023-24, when it finished runner-up in NCAA Division III. She also has coached the Maryland Black Bears of the North American Hockey League and the Washington Pride girls’ AAA hockey program.
“She can answer better for her, but I think for her, she’s always had this unique path,” McDonald said. “So, it honestly in some ways doesn’t feel like you’re promoting a woman, because she worked in the North American Hockey League and coached boys. She worked D3 college and worked with men. And with us, it’s like she’s just sort of another person in the room, like giving it to the other people, not taking anything. But a big part of what we do down there in the American League, everybody’s super close. Our four coaches are all in the same office. Like, our trainers share offices. When you go on the road, everybody’s helping everybody do everything, and it’s a really tight-knit group down there. But I think a lot of times she’s a person that’s sort of uniting and making sure what needs to be done is done. Her growth has been tremendous, and I think the fact that she’s accepted by everybody — like now it’s two head coaches. That was one thing, I think, Kim will tell you that she brought into this season. She had built up such a good rapport with Aaron over the previous year, and then Mark comes in and she doesn’t know Mark from anybody. But I think, obviously, now you look at the first half of our year and how she’s fit in, and it’s been seamless.”