Brian Campbell

Brian Wesley Campbell (born on May 23, 1979, Strathroy, Ontario) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who currently plays for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Personal
Brian received national attention in Canada in 2003, not for playing hockey, but because of SARS. Brian's 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. This led to the quarantine of both Brian and then teammate Rhett Warrener. Campbell missed three games before being cleared to play again. Neither player had any SARS symptoms.

Playing career
Brian 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. He 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 Brian was also awarded the CHL Player of the Year.

He 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, he played for Jokerit in Helsinki, Finland and won the silver medal in the SM-liiga Finnish championships.

On January 9, 2007 he 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 2007 and captain for the month of December under the Sabres 2007–08 rotating captain and alternate captains system. Brian was selected again in 2008 NHL All-Star team.

The 2007-2008 season was the final season Campbell was was under contract for. Since the Sabres were fighting for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, his future with the club became a highly spectulated topic. It was speculated on wether the Sabres would keep him for the playoff run, or wether they'd trade him in exchange for long term assets. Finally, on February 26, 2008, the last day of the NHL trade deadline, the Sabres traded Campbell, 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).

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.) Campbell was named a member of the NHL Competition Committee on April 21, 2008.

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

International career
Brian was a member of Team Canada at the 1999 World Junior Championships, and was named a first team all-star for the tournament.