SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- The American Hockey League announced today that, in partnership with the National Hockey League Coaches’ Association (NHLCA), the Rockford IceHogs and Providence Bruins will be participating in the NHLCA Guest Coach Program this preseason.

The NHLCA began a guest coaching initiative in 2022, selecting members of its BIPOC Coaches Program and Female Coaches Program to participate in NHL teams’ development camps for the purposes of networking, professional development and visibility. The NHLCA and the American Hockey League extended this opportunity to AHL clubs for their 2024 preseason camps.

Rockford’s coaching staff will be joined by Amy Brolsma and Chi-Yin Tse. Brolsma is a skating coach in Wisconsin and Minnesota who in 2021 became the first female coach to work in the United States Hockey League; Tse is the general manager of the Tulsa Jr. Oilers and a member of the Board of Directors for the Carnegie Initiative. Matt Pinchevsky, the men’s ice hockey head coach at the University of Southern Maine, will work with the Providence coaching staff.

In operation since 1936, the American Hockey League serves as the top development league for the players, coaches, managers, executives, broadcasters and staff of all 32 National Hockey League teams. Nearly 90 percent of today’s NHL players are American Hockey League graduates, and more than 100 honored members of the Hockey Hall of Fame spent time in the AHL in their careers.