Meet the woman in charge of running the NHL’s best new arena - WWU alumna Susan Darrington

As he grew up in Edmonton, Darrington’s stepfather, Neil Campbell, was an executive with the exhibition association that operated the coliseum. He began working for the organization two years before the rink opened in 1974, and for the next dozen years served in a variety of capacities, including events manager and general manager.

When Campbell left Edmonton to accept a job running the Kingdome in Seattle in 1986, Darrington stayed and lived with her grandparents until she completed 12th grade. For four years after that, she studied human services management at Western Washington University, but returned to Alberta in the summer to work at the coliseum.