Emily Engel-Natzke becomes first female Capitals assistant coach
The Washington Capitals upgraded their coaching staff by looking within the organization, promoting Emily Engel-Natzke from he Hershey Bears to the Caps as their video coordinator. She becomes the first full time female coach in franchise history.
The 31 year old served as video coach with the Caps AHL affiliate for the last two seasons. With Hershey, she was responsible for producing opponent pre scouts and coaching reports as well as in game and postgame video breakdowns.
Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan said in a press release from the Caps:
“We are extremely pleased to name Emily as our new video coordinator. 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 is not only the first female coach in Caps franchise history, she is also the first woman to hold a full time position on an NHL coaching staff. She is a native of Fort Collins, Colorado and previously worked with the University of Wisconsin men’s and women’s hockey teams as a video coordinator from 2015-17 and as an assistant director of operations and video coordinator with the men’s team from 2017-20.
Engel-Natzke has also 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 Finland.
This was an important hire for the franchise. The Caps have always been inclusive but hockey over the years has gotten a bad rap for not being as inclusive as the other sports. But hockey can be for everyone and hires like this will help grow the game. Watch for more of these across the league.
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The Caps have always had good video coaches and I have no doubt Engel-Natzke will be a tremendous hire to the Caps coaching staff. Congrats!