Defenseman Brian Campbell announced his retirement from the NHL after 17 seasons and will serve as a special adviser for the Hawks on both the hockey and business sides of the club.
“I’m excited to transition into the next step in both my professional career and life,” Campbell said in a statement. “I’m grateful to the countless number of teammates, coaches, team staff and fans that I have crossed paths with throughout my playing career in Chicago, Buffalo, Florida and San Jose. The Blackhawks organization has allowed me to take on this challenge, and I’m thankful for this new opportunity.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, Campbell still had the energy physically the play another season, but he didn’t want to relocate his family from Chicago after the Blackhawks told him they were planning on going in a different direction and would not re-sign him.
“They were going to move in a different direction and that was fine by me,” Campbell said. “They let me know in a lot of time, so if I was choosing that, that’s how that kind of went down. I understand. I played a long time in this league and I understood that. It was nice they gave me lots of time and I had to think about it and see what I wanted to do.”
A native of Strathroy, Ontario,Campbell was originally drafted by the Buffalo Sabes in the sixth round in 1997. He had 87 goals and 417 assists for 504 points in 1,082 regular-season games with the Sabres, Sharks, Blackhawks and Panthers, and appeared in four All-Star Games.He won a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2010.
