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LOWERS THE BOOM – Mississippi RiverKings blue-liner Reid Campbell, right, treats an opponent to a forearm shiver during a Southern Professional Hockey League game earlier this season. Photo courtesy of MARK MATHEWS
Campbell rock solid as RiverKings cue playoff run
After winning three NCAA titles as a college player, Reid Campbell has turned his sights on a professional championship.
After winning three NCAA titles as a college player, Reid Campbell has turned his sights on a professional championship.
The 27-year-old defenceman from Haines Junction is in the throes of a playoff run with the Mississippi RiverKings in the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).
The team finished the season in third place.
After struggling through injuries in his first year with Mississippi, Yukon’s lone pro hockey player bounced back this season to post his best offensive numbers since junior.
The defensive specialist scored four goals and 11 assists in 41 games with Mississippi this season, and added a playoff score in the RiverKings’ first-round victory over the Louisiana IceGators last week.
His season also included a 14-game stint with the East Coast Hockey League’s (ECHL) Greenville Swamp Rabbits – just two steps removed from the National Hockey League.
Campbell had cracked the ECHL South Carolina Stingrays’ roster out of training camp last fall, but was released after the squad welcomed the return of their players from American Hockey League clubs.
Semifinal action in the nine-team SPHL goes tonight with Campbell’s RiverKings facing the Pensacola Ice Flyers to begin a best-of-three.
Campbell is expected to shut down the Ice Flyers’ top line – one of the best trios in the league.
“I’ll do my best to stay on them and chip in offensively on the PP,” the five-foot-10, 185-pound blue-liner told the Star from Pensacola yesterday.
“I want to win a pro championship. That’d be unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, the Yukoner isn’t taking his success this season for granted.
“Last year started and ended rough,” said Campbell, the older brother of Whitehorse Huskies captain Evan Campbell.
“But this year, I’ve stayed – knock on wood – relatively healthy.
“I’ve had a decent year, points-wise and it’s very gratifying, honestly.”
While Campbell is solely focused on his current playoff run, he noted he is labouring with a couple of hip issues that may determine his future.
He didn’t rule out playing for the Huskies down the road.
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