Bethany Brausen Joins Bruins Coaching Staff for Dev Camp as Guest Coach

BOSTON - Like many Minnesotans, Bethany Brausen jokes that she learned to skate before learning to walk. With an ice rink in her childhood backyard, she was bound to play hockey.

This week, the Minnesota native is in Boston, taking the ice at Warrior Ice Arena as a guest coach for the Boston Bruins' 2023 Development Camp. Brausen joins the Bruins in collaboration with the NHL Coaches' Association as part of the Diversity Guest Coach Program, an initiative that was piloted during the 2022-23 NHL season.

Brausen played hockey at the University of Minnesota from 2010-14 while earning her bachelor's degree in psychology. The forward skated in 161 games for the Gophers, recording 16 goals and 35 assists for 51 points. As a two-time captain, Brausen was part of back-to-back national championship teams and helped lead Minnesota to three-straight Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Final Faceoff titles.

After an impressive collegiate playing career, Brausen went on to pursue a master's degree in counseling psychology before returning to her alma mater's hockey program.

"I was gearing up with my Ph.D. applications and had those all ready to go when my old coach actually called me and was like, 'Would you ever come back and be an assistant coach?'" said Brausen. "I didn't really know if I was going to be able to make it work at the time. I had a practicum with my master's and all that, but eventually, we were able to sift through it."

Brausen joined Minnesota's coaching staff as a graduate assistant in 2016-17, spending the next four seasons as an assistant coach. For Brausen, witnessing her players grow both as athletes and people keeps her coming back each year.

"I love seeing that light bulb moment for players where they're working on something and they don't get it, and then eventually it translates and you can see their face light up and how excited they get," Brausen said when asked to speak to her favorite aspects of coaching. "I think there's such an opportunity to of course teach hockey, but that it's also really just a platform for life.

"How do you show up? How do you treat each other and really help these young girls and women eventually go on and become the more polished, professional versions of themselves? Being a part of that process is something I feel like you wake up and you're grateful for every day and feels like that it's not much of a job."

In 2021, Brausen began her current role as an assistant coach of the St. Thomas women's hockey team. In her first two seasons with the Tommies, Brausen helped grow the program to the Division I level in the WHCA.

Ahead of her third season in St. Paul, Brausen is excited to be spending some time in Boston.

"It just feels like every corner you turn, whether it's one of the players, the coaching staff or management, there's such an opportunity," Brausen said Tuesday afternoon following her second day at Development Camp at Warrior Ice Arena. "It has certainly been one of the greatest privileges of my life professionally speaking to be involved with working with such a talented and promising young demographic of men."

Bruins Player Development Coordinator Adam McQuaid, and Player Development and Scouting Assistant Danielle Marmer were key proponents in bringing the Diversity Guest Coach Program to Boston for this year's Development Camp. Brausen says she was impressed by the organization's comprehensive approach to player development, additionally speaking with General Manager Don Sweeney during her interview process with Boston.

"I can readily admit that I do believe that they're doing things differently here," said Brausen. "I think that they're really looking at the holistic development of their athletes, which I just have to believe is an anomaly in some ways. It's very obvious that they want them to be great people, part of a great culture."

In 2020, the NHLCA launched the Female and BIPOC Coaches Development Programs. Since, both programs have experienced immense growth, leading to numerous opportunities for underrepresented groups in the NHL such as the Diversity Guest Coach Program. Brausen expressed her appreciation for the initiative, citing program lead and NHLCA PresidentLindsay Pennal as a driving factor in her and other coaches' opportunities to grow their own game.

"I'm out here at the Boston Bruins Development Camp. Would I have ever in a million years imagined that was possible? Absolutely not," said Brausen. "It's people like her [Pennal] that have developed programming to really allow the opportunity for people with different perspectives, different voices to come in and have the opportunity to work."

As a guest coach, Brausen has spent this week helping run practices, skating alongside Bruins NHL and AHL staff. Within her short time with the team, Brausen has felt immediately welcomed and respected as a coach from the start of Development Camp.

"Speaking from a woman's perspective, you just never know. You're like, if I get into that environment, are these men going to receive the coaching the way that I'd be hopeful that they would?" said Brausen when asked about her experience with the team so far. "I think if you can help make someone better, they're going to be open to it for the most part. That's been a really kind of rich and rewarding experience to see firsthand that played out."

Brausen feels that initiatives like the Diversity Guest Program are pivotal in increasing female and BIPOC representation in hockey. She shared her thoughts on how a more diverse, collaborative coaching staff ultimately aids in players' long-term development.

"What I think it's about is sharing those experiences, sharing those perspectives, getting all those people in the same room," Brausen said. "So that regardless of who ends up coaching any player, that voices are heard and that these players are receiving the best messaging from the most diverse group they possibly can, because I think we all know that it's going to make them the best versions of themselves, both on the ice and off the ice."