Amanda Kessel
Amanda Kessel is an American ice hockey executive and former professional player, currently serving as Manager of Minor League Operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League and Assistant General Manager of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
Internationally, Kessel represented the United States women's national ice hockey team at three Olympic Games and seven World Championships, winning five gold medals and five silver medals. She won Olympic gold in 2018 and silver medals at the 2014 and 2022 Olympics. At the 2018 Olympic gold medal game, she scored a crucial shootout goal that extended the shootout before the United States defeated Canada 3-2, securing the first U.S. Olympic gold in women's hockey in 20 years. She won World Championship gold medals in 2013, 2017, 2019, and 2023, and ranks seventh among Americans in all-time World Championship scoring with 20 goals and 59 points in 43 games.
At the University of Minnesota, Kessel won three NCAA national championships and was awarded the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2013 as the top player in NCAA Division I women's hockey. She recorded 108 goals and 248 points in 136 games, averaging 1.82 points per game, and became the first player in NCAA women's hockey history to record over 100 points in a single season during her sophomore year in 2011–12. Her collegiate career was interrupted by concussion symptoms sustained during training for the 2014 Winter Olympics, causing her to miss the 2014–15 season and most of the 2015–16 season before returning for the national championship run.
Professionally, Kessel signed with the New York Riveters in 2016 on a contract that made her the highest-paid player in NWHL history at the time. She was named 2nd NWHL All-Star Game MVP after scoring the first hat trick in NWHL All-Star Game history. After returning to the renamed Metropolitan Riveters for the 2018–19 NWHL season, she joined the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association in 2019 to advocate for better support of women's hockey, participating in historic showcases including the first women's ice hockey event at Madison Square Garden in 2021.
In 2022, Kessel joined the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. She was promoted to Special Assistant to the President of Hockey Operations in 2023. Though she was selected by PWHL Montreal in the 2024 PWHL draft, Kessel chose to continue her management career and was promoted to her current roles with the Penguins' AHL affiliate in August 2024.
Early life
Born in Madison, Wisconsin to Kathy and Phil Kessel Sr., Amanda is the youngest of three siblings, with older brothers Phil and Blake. Her mother, Kathy, was a track athlete in college, while her father played quarterback at Northern Michigan University and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 1981 NFL draft.Growing up in an athletic household, Kessel and her brothers were highly competitive with each other, frequently competing in video games, ping pong, and hockey drills. She began skating at a young age and developed a passion for hockey alongside her siblings. Due to limited opportunities for girls' youth hockey in Madison, Kessel played for the Madison Capitols Bantam boys' team in 2005–06, helping the team win state and regional championships.
Kessel attended Shattuck-Saint Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota, where she played for the school's girls' hockey team. In her freshman year, she recorded 102 points in 56 games and helped Shattuck win the USA Hockey under-19 national championship. As a junior, she achieved the 100-point mark in just 34 games as the team repeated as U-19 national champions. In her senior season, Kessel was the team's points leader by 61 points, recording 122 points in 46 games.
During her time at Shattuck, Kessel also represented the United States at the U-18 level. She played in five games at the 2008 IIHF Women's U-18 World Championship, ranking third among all players with 11 points. At the 2009 tournament, she was named Most Valuable Forward after recording 19 points and leading the U.S. to a gold medal.
Playing career
Collegiate
Kessel played college hockey for the University of Minnesota from 2010 to 2016, recording 108 goals and 248 points in 136 games. Her career average of 1.82 points per game ranks among the best in NCAA Division I women's hockey history. Kessel made an immediate impact in her first game with Minnesota on October 1, 2010, registering two goals and two assists in a 5–0 victory over Clarkson University. The following day, she scored the game-winning goal in a 3–0 victory. Kessel finished her freshman season with 28 goals and 71 points in 40 games, earning WCHA Rookie of the Year honors. She led all NCAA freshmen in scoring and was named to the WCHA All-Rookie Team. Kessel helped the Golden Gophers reach the NCAA championship game, where they fell to the Wisconsin Badgers 4–2.In her sophomore campaign, Kessel recorded 46 goals and 101 points in 41 games, becoming the first player in NCAA women's hockey history to record over 100 points in a single season. On November 18, 2011, she registered five points, including four goals, in an 11–0 victory over New Hampshire, the worst loss in the 35-year history of the Wildcats program. The next day, she earned her second hat trick of the weekend as the Gophers defeated New Hampshire 6–1. Kessel was named a Patty Kazmaier Award top-10 finalist and helped lead Minnesota to the 2012 NCAA championship, defeating the Wisconsin Badgers 4–2 in the title game. She was named to the NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team.
Kessel's junior year proved to be her most decorated. She recorded 34 goals and 76 points in 37 games, leading Minnesota to a second consecutive national championship with a 6–3 victory over Boston University in the 2013 title game. She scored the game-winning goal in the championship game and was named to the NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team. Kessel won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top player in NCAA Division I women's hockey, becoming Minnesota's first recipient of the award. She was also named a First-Team All-American and WCHA Player of the Year.
Following her junior season, Kessel took a redshirt year during the 2013–14 season to train with the U.S. Women's National Team in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics. She competed in the Olympics in Sochi, Russia, where the United States earned a silver medal. On September 10, 2014, the Golden Gophers announced that Kessel would sit out the 2014–15 season as a result of lingering concussion symptoms she had sustained while playing for Team USA. On July 21, 2015, it was announced that Kessel would not be playing hockey for the 2015–16 season for health reasons. Because she had previously taken a redshirt year on two prior occasions, she was no longer be eligible to play college hockey. However, on February 3, 2016, the Golden Gophers announced that Kessel had returned to the team. Despite earlier prognoses, she continued working to gain clearance from doctors to play hockey and succeeded late in the 2015–16 season in time for the February 5–6 series against North Dakota. In her return season, Kessel recorded 17 points in 13 games. She was named to the NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team and helped Minnesota win its third national championship in her four active seasons, defeating Boston College 3–1 in the 2016 title game. Kessel scored the game-winning goal in the championship game.
Kessel finished her collegiate career with three NCAA national championships, one Patty Kazmaier Award, three NCAA Frozen Four All-Tournament Team selections, and numerous WCHA honors. Her 1.82 points-per-game average and 101-point sophomore season remain among the best single-season and career marks in NCAA women's hockey history.
Professional
New York/Metropolitan Riveters (2016–19)
Due to NWHL league rules stipulating that a college player must be entering her senior year to be drafted and Kessel's junior season was completed in 2013 before the league existed, Kessel was never drafted by a National Women's Hockey League team. Instead, she signed as a free agent with the New York Riveters on May 1, 2016. Her contract was the largest NWHL contract to date.During the 2016–17 NWHL season, Kessel recorded 4 goals and 18 points in 8 games for the Riveters, averaging 2.25 points per game. She was named one of the two captains for the 2nd NWHL All-Star Game. She scored a hat trick in the All-Star Game, becoming the first player in NWHL All-Star history to accomplish this feat, and was recognized as the game's Most Valuable Player. She also added an assist in one postseason game that season.
After taking the 2017–18 season off from the NWHL due to national team commitments, she returned to the league with the renamed Metropolitan Riveters for the 2018–19 NWHL season. Kessel signed a one-year contract with the defending Isobel Cup champions in June 2018, fresh off Team USA's gold medal victory at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She led the team in assists and points despite the Riveters posting a disappointing 4-12-0 record, the worst season in franchise history. Kessel was the only Riveters player to average over a point per game during the season.
PWHPA (2019–23)
Following the 2018–19 season, Kessel was one of many players to join the boycott of North American women's hockey leagues and join the new players' union, the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association, to push for better support of women's hockey. She was named a team captain at the January 2020 Toronto showcase.Skating for Team New Hampshire during the 2020–21 PWHPA season, Kessel participated in a PWHPA Dream Gap Tour event at New York's Madison Square Garden on February 28, 2021, the first women's ice hockey event at the venue. Playing for a team sponsored by the Women's Sports Foundation, Kessel recorded a goal and an assist in a 4–3 win, earning the Second Star of the Game. In the 2022–23 season, Kessel recorded 5 points in 6 games playing for Team Adidas in the PWHPA.