LaCombe hoping to use work at Hurricanes development camp to broaden coaching career

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Allie LaCombe was putting Carolina Hurricanes prospects through a variety of skating drills Tuesday, the second day of development camp.

As she demonstrated proper edge work on the perimeter of the face-off circle, it was clear that she is a bit more steady than the players, who sometimes wobble a bit trying to hold their edges through a glide.

"You have to master the finite movements, whether it's the weight shift, the knee drive, your hips, your knees, your ankles, your posture," LaCombe said Wednesday. "It's so fine-tuned."

LaCombe is a member of the NHL Coaches' Association (NHLCA) Female Coaches Program, earning exposure to NHL teams for the second consecutive summer after working with the Vancouver Canucks prospects last year.

She is the co-founder of the Nashville Warriors Hockey Club in Nolensville, Tennessee, where she coaches boys and girls travel teams. Her skating expertise has provided skill development across a range of levels, including the American Hockey League, collegiate and junior hockey. In Raleigh, she worked with Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour and Carolina's development coaches.

"As coaches, it's development for us too," she said. "It's great to feed off each other and coach outside of your comfort zone, maybe take some things home with you as you go back to your season."

While she welcomes the exposure to the highest level of hockey, LaCombe doesn't dwell on being a female coach working with a team of young men.

"I think we're kind of open to that now," she said. "It's awesome to have men in this sport who are willing and open and who listen to you, and they want your feedback. I don't think about gender when I'm teaching. I teach the same way, boys and girls. And if I need to push and get on them, I'm going to get on them the same way. It's mutual respect both ways."

LaCombe, a forward at Syracuse University from 2011-15, is adept at explaining the benefits of mastering skating drills. So when it was time for Hurricanes prospects to perform, she made sure they were getting the most out of their crossovers and turns.

"We're teaching a lot of things: holding that edge, teaching how to glide forward, teaching your head position," she said. "We're working on our upper body as well, not leaning in with our shoulders. We're teaching posture and movement and keeping that finesse skating as they go through, so they're not all over the place. Balance plays a huge part in that as well. I'm looking at knees, hips and ankles, looking at flexion. I'm looking at how they maintain speed on the glide in turns."

Hurricanes management hopes the technical instruction contributes to the prospects' eventual NHL readiness.

"She's an incredibly gifted skater and able to clearly communicate to the athletes on what they need to do," Carolina assistant general manager Darren Yorke said. "It comes with a very strong presence of making the corrections when they need to because the drills aren't easy. Some of the players are going to struggle and need a little coaching. She fits seamlessly in there."

LaCombe is inspired by the example of Jessica Campbell, who was hired by the Seattle Kraken on July 3 to work on coach Dan Bylsma's staff, becoming the first woman assistant coach in the NHL.

"I would love to keep growing in my coaching career, maybe move up to the pros," said LaCombe, who ended her professional playing career with the Connecticut Whale of the National Women's Hockey League in 2019-20. "To get a job for what I do, not because I'm a girl but because I earned that. That's important too as we keep earning our ice time and paving the way for younger generations. All my boys know me as Coach Allie. It's not like, she's a girl coach. They just have it now. It's been interesting to watch develop over the past couple years."

Making the right impression at development camp is another step in the right direction, and LaCombe did not go unnoticed.

"It's good to get other coaches around and hear how they do things, from the skills to the skating," Brind'Amour said. "Maybe I don't use it with my NHL guys because I'm hoping they're pretty good skaters, but you're always learning. Can I implement some of that stuff in an NHL practice? Maybe. It's all about trying to get better, and the only way to do that is to bring in people who have expertise. She does, for sure."