Colin Campbell was a hardworking player whose vision as an executive has contributed significantly to bettering the game of hockey at the National Hockey League level and beyond.

Campbell was born on January 28, 1953 in London, Ontario, Canada, but was raised in nearby Tillsonburg, Ontario. He played with the Tillsonburg Tigers of the Ontario Hockey Association (OHA) Junior ‘C’ in 1969-70 and then three seasons with the Peterborough TPT Petes of the OHA Junior ‘A’ league from 1970-71 to 1972-73. The Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL) selected Campbell in the 2nd round, 27th overall, at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, but at the same time, he was drafted by the Vancouver Blazers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) in the 1st round, 5th overall, at the 1973 WHA Amateur Draft.

Colin chose to play with the Vancouver Blazers during the 1973-74 season and then spent eleven seasons with various NHL teams, including the Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Rockies, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings between 1974-75 and 1984-85. While with the Canucks, he helped the Canucks win the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl as the Western Conference champions in 1981-82.

Campbell played parts of two minor professional seasons with the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) in 1974-75 and Oklahoma City Blazers of the Central Hockey League (CHL) in 1976-77.

He turned to coaching and was hired as an Assistant Coach with the Detroit Red Wings from 1985-86 to 1989-90, then took the same position with the New York Rangers from 1990-91 to 1992-93. During that 1992-93 season, he was re-assigned by the Rangers and named Head Coach of the Binghamton Rangers, the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, in January 1993. Colin returned to the Rangers as an Associate Coach for 1993-94, helping the team win the Presidents’ Trophy for finishing first overall in the NHL’s regular season, the Prince of Wales Trophy as the Eastern Conference champions and then, the Stanley Cup championship. During the following summer, Campbell was promoted to Head Coach with the New York Rangers and held the position from 1994-95 to February 18, 1998.

Following his coaching career, Campbell was named the National Hockey League’s Senior Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations. His roles included assessing suspensions and fines on behalf of the League, daily contact with the NHL Players’ Association, the NHL Governors, General Managers and Head Coaches. The position was later re-titled as Executive Vice-President of Hockey Operations. Colin relinquished the role as Chief NHL disciplinarian while maintaining his position as Senior Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations. He helped institute changes in the NHL game to make it safer and faster and to allow for more skill while being entertaining and more inclusive for all. This change has migrated to many leagues and levels worldwide. He also created a centralized video review location called the ‘Situation Room’ in which NHL’s Hockey Operations were able to follow every NHL game. The NHL led the way as other sports/leagues have now instituted something similar.

In March 2005, Campbell was appointed to the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee and maintained that role from June 2005 to June 2019. He created and operated the Colin Campbell Hockey School and Tillsonburg renamed its Community Arena the Colin Campbell Community Arena in 2004.

A pioneering executive who used his playing background experience to better the game, Colin Campbell was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder Category.