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Colin Campbell (ice hockey, born 1953)

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Colin John Campbell (born January 28, 1953) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman, coach and current executive vice president and director of hockey operations of the National Hockey League (NHL).[1] He played in the 1982 Stanley Cup Finals as a member of the losing Vancouver Canucks. Campbell was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024 as part of the Builder category.

Colin Campbell
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2024 (Builder)
Born (1953-01-28) January 28, 1953 (age 71)
Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)
Weight 190 lb (86 kg; 13 st 8 lb)
Position Defence
Shot Left
Played for Vancouver Blazers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Colorado Rockies
Edmonton Oilers
Vancouver Canucks
Detroit Red Wings
Coached for New York Rangers
NHL draft 27th overall, 1973
Pittsburgh Penguins
WHA draft 5th overall, 1973
Vancouver Blazers
Playing career 1973–1985
Coaching career 1985–1998

Playing career

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Campbell spent his junior career with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey Association (later the Ontario Hockey League). He was taken in the second round of the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, 27th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and also in the first round of the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft, 5th overall, by the Vancouver Blazers. After one season with the Blazers, Campbell signed on with Pittsburgh.

Campbell went on to play for the Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, and Detroit Red Wings. A scrappy, physical defender, Campbell scored just 25 goals in 11 NHL seasons while accumulating almost 1,300 penalty minutes.

In his 11-year NHL career, Campbell appeared in 636 NHL games, posting 25 goals and 103 assists for 128 points, along with 1292 penalty minutes. He also played 78 games in the WHA, recording 3 goals and 23 points along with 191 PIM.

Career statistics

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    Regular season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1970–71 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 59 5 18 23 160 5 0 2 2 22
1971–72 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 50 2 23 25 158 15 2 9 11 59
1971–72 Peterborough Petes MC — — — — — 3 0 2 2 6
1972–73 Peterborough Petes OHA-Jr. 60 7 40 47 189 — — — — —
1973–74 Vancouver Blazers WHA 78 3 20 23 191 — — — — —
1974–75 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 59 4 15 19 172 9 1 3 4 21
1974–75 Hershey Bears AHL 15 1 3 4 55 — — — — —
1975–76 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 64 7 10 17 105 3 0 0 0 0
1976–77 Colorado Rockies NHL 54 3 8 11 67 — — — — —
1976–77 Oklahoma City Blazers CHL 7 1 2 3 9 — — — — —
1977–78 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 55 1 9 10 103 — — — — —
1978–79 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 65 2 18 20 137 7 1 4 5 30
1979–80 Edmonton Oilers NHL 72 2 11 13 196 3 0 0 0 11
1980–81 Vancouver Canucks NHL 42 1 8 9 75 3 0 1 1 9
1981–82 Vancouver Canucks NHL 47 0 8 8 131 16 2 2 4 89
1982–83 Detroit Red Wings NHL 53 1 7 8 74 — — — — —
1983–84 Detroit Red Wings NHL 68 3 4 7 108 4 0 0 0 21
1984–85 Detroit Red Wings NHL 57 1 5 6 124 — — — — —
NHL Totals 636 25 103 128 1292 45 4 10 14 181

Coaching career

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Immediately following his retirement in 1985, Campbell joined the Red Wings coaching staff under head coach Jacques Demers. During the 1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Campbell and assistant general manager Neil Smith discovered several Red Wings players, including Bob Probert and Petr Klima, out past curfew.[2][3] The incident occurred at a suburban Edmonton bar called "Goose Loonies", and led to an apology being issued by Demers.[3][4] Campbell left the Red Wings after the dismissal of Demers in 1990.[5][6][7]

Campbell then joined the New York Rangers as an associate coach for 1991–92, parts of 1992–93, and 1993–94. He was the head coach for the Rangers' top affiliate; the Binghamton Rangers of the American Hockey League for half of the 1992–93 season.

After head coach Mike Keenan left the Rangers after their Stanley Cup win in 1994, Campbell was promoted to take over for him.[8][9][10][11]

In the strike-shortened NHL season that followed, Campbell led the Rangers to a fourth-place finish in the Atlantic Division. That was good enough to get the Rangers into the playoffs as the 8th and lowest seed, where they faced the Eastern Conference regular season champion and top-seeded Quebec Nordiques in the first round. The Rangers won the series in six games and handed the franchise its final series defeat in Quebec. The Rangers faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the second round and were promptly swept out of the playoffs.

Campbell led the Rangers back to the playoffs in 1995–96, as the team finished second behind the Flyers in the division. They then defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the opening series in six games after losing the first two but fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games in the conference semifinals.

In 1996–97 Campbell's Rangers had their best and longest playoff run. Finishing fourth in their division but fifth in the conference, the Rangers knocked out the defending conference champion Florida Panthers in five games in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. They then upset their divisional rivals, the New Jersey Devils, in five games to advance to play the Flyers in the Eastern Conference Finals, where their run ended in five games.

After losing captain Mark Messier to free agency in the offseason and losing out on Joe Sakic in their quest to bring him to the team after the Colorado Avalanche matched the offer sheet the Rangers signed him to in 1997, Campbell's Rangers struggled out of the gate the next season and he was fired as coach after 57 games, and John Muckler replaced him.[12][13][14] The Rangers would not make the playoffs that season, nor would they again until the 2005–06 season under head coach Tom Renney. Furthermore, the team also did not win another playoff series, nor mere postseason game until they swept the Atlanta Thrashers during the 2007 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Head coaching record

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Team Year Regular season Playoffs
G W L T Pts Finish Result
NYR 1994–95 48 22 23 3 47 4th in Atlantic Lost in Conference Semifinals (PHI)
NYR 1995–96 82 41 27 14 96 2nd in Atlantic Lost in Conference Semifinals (PIT)
NYR 1996–97 82 38 34 10 86 4th in Atlantic Lost in Conference Finals (PHI)
NYR 1997–98 57 17 24 16 (68) (fired) —
Total 269 118 108 43 3 playoff appearances

Executive career

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Shortly after being fired by the Rangers, Campbell was hired by the NHL as the league's Senior Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations, taking over from the departed Brian Burke.[15][16][17] During Campbell's tenure, the NHL has faced a number of high-profile incidents that required Campbell's attention, most notably the Marty McSorley/Donald Brashear stick-swinging incident, which resulted in a year-long suspension for McSorley, and the Todd Bertuzzi hit on Steve Moore.

During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, Campbell chaired a committee that looked into adjusting NHL rules, resulting in major changes for the 2005–06 NHL season.

On November 1, 2006, Campbell rejected a five-year, $7.5 million offer from the Philadelphia Flyers to be their general manager. There was speculation that he was holding out for the general manager job with the Toronto Maple Leafs (a position eventually filled by Brian Burke) after general manager John Ferguson Jr.'s contract was terminated in January 2008.[18][19]

On November 15, 2010, TSN and various other media outlets reported on a string of emails from Colin Campbell.[20] The email correspondence became a matter of public record in the wrongful dismissal case of referee Dean Warren against the NHL and the emails were entered into evidence in the case, although specific references to names and dates were blacked out. In these emails, Campbell calls Boston Bruins centre Marc Savard a "little fake artist" after Warren assessed Colin Campbell's son, Gregory Campbell, a high-sticking minor on Savard and sending further emails to director of officiating Stephen Walkom complaining about the work of referees who gave Gregory a late-game penalty that resulted in a tying goal.[21] In a follow-up interview with TSN, Colin Campbell admitted "it (the email content) was inappropriate. But no one told me or maybe told you five years ago that you can take your emails and read them all."[22] Despite the controversy and the admission of inappropriate content and accusations of bias, the NHL posted a strong backing of Campbell on their website and he continued in his role as the Senior Vice President until stepping down on June 1, 2011,[23] Brendan Shanahan replaced his position as Vice President of Player Safety. He stepped aside just prior to his son playing in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.[24][25]

During voting for the 2016 NHL All-Star Game, career enforcer John Scott was leading fan voting as captain of the Pacific Division. In a piece for the Players' Tribune, John Scott revealed that one NHL executive attempted to shame him out of competing, asking how his children would feel about his participation. It was revealed many months later in a Twitter tirade from player Steve Downie that Colin Campbell was this executive.[26]

He currently continues his role as Director of Hockey Operations.[27]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wyshynski, Greg (June 3, 2013). "NHL players near 'grandfathering' in mandatory visors?". Yahoo.com. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
  2. ^ Cart, Julie (June 30, 1987). "NHL Has a Drinking Problem--but There's No Penalty". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "DEMERS DRINKING BY PROBERT, OTHERS CAUSED DETROIT'S LOSS". Washington Post. December 31, 2023. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "SPORTS PEOPLE; Red Wings Apologize". New York Times. May 14, 1988. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  5. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (July 13, 1990). "Red Wings Fire Coach Demers, Name Murray". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Tripi, Bob (July 13, 1990). "Red Wings fire Demers, name Bryan Murray GM and head coach - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "Red Wings fire coach Demers". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  8. ^ Alexander, Rachel (January 5, 2024). "KEENAN JOINS BLUES, BUT PAYS PRICE". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  9. ^ Sandomir, Richard (July 25, 1994). "HOCKEY; Rangers Acquire Nedved In the Keenan Dispute". New York Times. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  10. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (July 25, 1994). "Keenan Gets $100,000 Fine, 60-Day Ban; Nedved a Ranger". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 11, 2024.
  11. ^ Yannis, Alex (August 9, 1994). "Campbell Taking Step Up to Ranger Coaching Job". New York Times. p. B13. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  12. ^ Tribune, Chicago (February 19, 1998). "RANGERS FIRE COACH CAMPBELL". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  13. ^ Martin, Susan (February 18, 1998). "RANGERS FIRE CAMPBELL, SUCCESSOR NOT NAMED". Buffalo News. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  14. ^ "MUCKLER HIRED BY RANGERS". Washington Post. January 8, 2024. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  15. ^ "Campbell signs deal to police league". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  16. ^ "CAMPBELL WILL CARRY A BIG STICK FOR NHL". New York Daily News. July 21, 1998. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  17. ^ Lapointe, Joe (July 20, 1998). "HOCKEY; Campbell Is a Candidate for a Top Job in the N.H.L." New York Times. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  18. ^ Pollard, Dan (May 12, 2008). "Maple Leafs Also Considering Colin Campbell". TSN.ca. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  19. ^ Duff, Bob (April 29, 2008). "NHL source: Campbell will be Leafs next GM". Windsor Star. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  20. ^ Baumer, Kevin (November 16, 2010). "Leaked E-Mails Embarrass Top NHL Executive". Business Insider. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  21. ^ "NHL's Campbell under fire for emails sent to Walkom". www.tsn.ca. Archived from the original on November 15, 2010.
  22. ^ "NHL VP Campbell discusses email controversy with TSN". www.tsn.ca. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010.
  23. ^ "Campbell explains supplemental discipline process". NHL.com.
  24. ^ "Shanahan in for Campbell as NHL discipline czar". ESPN.com. June 1, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  25. ^ Hackel, Stu (June 2, 2011). "Campbell leaves thankless job to Shanahan". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  26. ^ Steve Downie [@stevedownie23] (December 23, 2016). "Collin Campbell asked John Scott if his kids were going to be embarrassed that he's going to all star game. Whatajoke" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ^ "Campbell to step away from NHL discipline position". tsn.ca. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011.
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Preceded by Head coach of the New York Rangers
1994–1998 		Succeeded by
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