Brian Campbell

Brian Campbell (born Brian Wesley Campbell on May 23, 1979) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Brian has previously played for the Buffalo Sabres, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks.

Early Playing Career
Brian grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown of Strathroy, Ontario where he won an OMHA Championship in Novice. He also played AAA hockey for the Elgin-Middlesex Major Bantam Chiefs along with Joe Thornton in 1993-94, which was the organization's inaugural year.

In 1994-95, Brian signed with the Petrolia Jets Jr.B. (OHA) of the Western Ontario Hockey League. Following his season with the Jets, he was drafted by the Ottawa 67's.

Interestingly, the 67's first round pick that season was Nick Boynton, who would end up being a defense partner with Brian for four seasons in Ottawa. The two reunited 15 years later as teammates with the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks.

Broam was taken by the Ottawa 67's in the OHL as a third round draft pick in the 1995 OHL Priority Selection. In 1998–99, he won the Red Tilson Trophy as the OHL's Most Outstanding Player.

Brian also won the Max Kaminsky Trophy as the OHL's Defenceman of the Year and the William Hanley Trophy as the OHL's Most Gentlemanly Player and to top it off, he was also awarded the CHL Player of the Year.

Buffalo Sabres
Brian was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres as their 6th round pick in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. He played his first game for the Sabres in the 1999–2000 season, and stayed with the team, wearing number 51 until February 26, 2008 when he was traded to San Jose.

During the NHL lockout in 2004–05, Brian played for Jokerit in Helsinki, Finland and won the silver medal in the SM-liiga Finnish championships.

On January 9, 2007, Brian was the leading vote getter amongst Eastern Conference defenceman for the 2007 NHL All-Star Game, earning him his first All-Star appearance.

As a result of the Sabres rotating captaincy, Brian was named an alternate captain for the month of November of 2007 and captain for the month of December under the Sabres 2007–08 rotating captain and alternate captains system. He was selected again for the 2008 NHL All-Star team.

San Jose Sharks
The 2007-2008 season was the final season that Brian was under contract with Buffalo.

On February 26, 2008, the NHL trade deadline, the Sabres traded Brian (along with their 7th round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft (194th overall-Sharks picked right winger Drew Daniels) to the San Jose Sharks for forward Steve Bernier and their 1st round pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft (26th overall-Sabres picked centre Tyler Ennis).

The Sharks were eventually eliminated in the Western Conference Semi-Finals by the Dallas Stars. Brian became a free agent at the conclusion of the season.

Brian also led the league during the 2007–08 NHL season in games played as one of only two players to appear in 83 games, or one more than a team's full schedule, as based on his trade to San Jose (the other being Jeff Halpern.)

On April 21, 2008, Brian was named a member of the NHL Competition Committee on April 21, 2008.

Chicago Blackhawks
On July 1, 2008, Briam signed an 8-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks for roughly $7.1 million per year. Fox Chicago reported that he chose to sign with the Blackhawks despite allegedly receiving better contract offers from other organizations.

Brian played in all 82 of Chicago's regular season games in the 2008-09 NHL season, scoring seven goals to go along with 45 assists.

Brian contributed two goals with eight assists in 17 playoff games that season as Chicago advanced to the Western Conference Finals where they were eliminated by the Detroit Red Wings.

On March 14, 2010, Brian was injured in a boarding incident caused by Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for boarding, while Brian did not return to the game. He sustained a broken clavicle & broken rib and was expected to miss 7–8 weeks.

Despite this, Brian managed to return by Game Four of the first round playoffs against Nashville, igniting the team to a three game win streak to knock Nashville out of the playoffs in six games. He had played in 388 consecutive games prior to the injury.

The Blackhawks won game 4, 3-0, to even the series at 2-2. Brian recorded the lone assist on Patrick Kane's overtime game winner over the Philadelphia Flyers as the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup on June 9, 2010.

Florida Panthers
During the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Brian was dealt to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Rostislav Olesz.

During his first season in Florida, Brian had 49 assists to go with 4 goals for 53 points and only 6 penalty minutes.

He became the first defenceman since Red Kelly in the 1953–54 season to win the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.

Personal Life
Brian grew up in Strathroy, Ontario. His parents are Ed & Lorna and he has two brothers named Craig and Darryl (who played pro hockey in the ECHL, last for the Mississippi Sea Wolves).

He attended elementary school at Colborne Street Public School and the Strathoy Districk Collegiate Institute for high school. Brian also attended Canterbury High School in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada while he played hockey for the Ottawa 67's of the OHL.

In 2003, Brian received national attention in Canada because of SARS. His sister-in-law Vagia, who works at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital visited him on March 24, 2003. Shortly after, she started showing SARS symptoms and was subsequently hospitalized which led to the quarantine of both Brian and his then teammate Rhett Warrener.

Brian missed three games before being cleared to play again. Neither player had any SARS symptoms.

During the 2011 NHL All-Star break, Brian got engaged to Lauren Miller. His nickname is "Soupy" because he shares his last name with the name of the Campbell Soup Company.