MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota natives are breaking new ground on the future of women in hockey after two National Hockey League teams announced that they hired the Minnesota Whitecaps' head coach Ronda Engelhardt and defender Sidney Morin as new scouts.
On Wednesday, the Nashville Predators announced that Engelhardt, a Roseville, Minn. native, will become the team's first-ever female scout and will join the Pred's staff as a North Amateur Scout based out of Minnesota. Engelhardt has coached the Whitecaps since 2018 and won the league's Isobel Cup in the team's first season in the now-Premier Hockey Federation.
Prior to becoming a coach, according to the Preds, Engelhardt played for the University of Minnesota, winning the team's first-ever national championship as a freshman and was a captain for the team during her senior season in 2002-2003. She ended her collegiate career with 167 points in 147 games.
The Roseville, Minn. native went on to play for the U.S. Women's National Team before making the leap to coaching as an assistant coach at the University of St. Thomas from 2003-2007, according to the team. She then coached at the Breck School in Golden Valley from 2013 to 2018.
On Wednesday, the team also announced that it has reached a two-year contract extension with Engelhardt for her to continue to be the Whitecaps' head coach.
New Whitecaps general manager Chi-Yin Tse said in an email to KARE 11, "We are excited for her and the opportunity it presents."
On Sept. 8, the Carolina Hurricanes announced changes to its hockey operations, which included hiring Morin, a Minnetonka native, to be one of the team's pro scouts.
The Hurricanes said in its announcement that Morin played at the University of Minnesota Duluth during her final two collegiate seasons and was named captain. She also helped lead the Women's National Team to a Gold Medal at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Morin has spent the last five seasons playing professionally in Sweden and Switzerland.
In a tweet, the Minnetonka High School graduate said, "Privileged to join this organization and excited to be apart of the Canes family!"
Currently, the team is selling season tickets for the 2022-2023 regular season. However, the PHF's full season schedule has yet to be released.
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