Courtney Kessel in final discussions to take over as Princeton women’s hockey coach, AP sources say

Boston Fleet coach Courtney Kessel is in final discussions to take over as women’s hockey coach at Princeton, two people with knowledge of talks told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The people spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity because Kessel’s hiring is not complete and the process could take weeks to finalize.

The move would be a homecoming for Kessel, who previously served as an assistant at Princeton under Cara Gardner Morey. She would succeed Gardner Morey, who left the Tigers in May upon being hired as general manager of the PWHL’s expansion team in Vancouver.

Kessel’s ties to Princeton played a major role in her decision to pursue the job. The choice to leave the PWHL was considered a difficult one for the 35-year-old, who is proud of the relationships she formed with staff and players in helping launch the Fleet. She had a 27-19-8 record with the franchise.

Boston reached the Walter Cup finals last year in its inaugural season, where it lost a decisive Game 5 to Minnesota. This season, the Fleet missed the playoffs by the slimmest of margins.

From Toronto, Kessel played at New Hampshire, where she was a 2010 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the MVP of women’s college hockey. She also represented Canada at three world championships, including a gold-medal win in 2012.

After four years as an assistant at Princeton, Kessel served as associate head coach at Boston University in 2023-24 before being hired as the Fleet’s first coach.

The Fleet have undergone major changes this offseason. Star forward Hilary Knight left Boston to sign with the PWHL’s expansion team in Seattle. The Fleet also have an opening at assistant general manager after Meghan Turner was hired as Seattle’s GM.

The PWHL will now have three coaching vacancies, with Seattle and Vancouver having yet to fill their positions.

Princeton’s program flourished during Gardner Morey’s eight seasons as coach. The Tigers won their first Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament title in 2020 as part of a school-record 26-win season.