Campbell ready for life after hockey

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This article was published 22/04/2023 (996 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Duncan Campbell has finally reached the end of the line with competitive hockey.

Now 26, the former Brandon Wheat Kings forward is a five-time academic all-Canadian who is finishing his bachelor of education degree at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ont., after earning his undergraduate degree in economics in 2022.

“I can say with 100 per cent certainty that I am excited and ready for the next chapter,” Campbell said. “I think knowing what the next chapter looks like and having a really good idea of what the future holds for me in terms of my career, where I’m going to live, my girlfriend (Tosha) and my personal life, it makes it a lot easier to turn the page and start the next chapter.

“It’s not easy. Hockey has probably been the biggest thing in my life for the longest amount of time, since I was 10 years old. It’s not easy to change and leave something you’ve done every single day since you were 10, so having the future and the next steps right in front of me really helped me manage the transition emotionally.

“It’s sad, but I look back on the career I had very fondly and I don’t have any regrets.”

The six-foot-three Campbell played five U Sports seasons with the Gaels — the 2020-21 season was a washout due to COVID-19 so he was given an extra year of eligibility — posting 19 goals and 36 assists in 122 games, with 11 more points in 16 playoff games.

He served as an alternate captain for his final three years at Queen’s, and tried to incorporate a bit of what he learned from former Brandon captain Macoy Erkamps into his own leadership style.

“One thing he really exemplified was teamwork,” Campbell said. “Every single guy mattered on the team, and nobody was put down. There were no rookies, there were no young guys. We were all mature and all understood that there is so much going on in our lives. The biggest thing I took from him was it was a community and everyone matters.”

Campbell said he made a point every year of explaining the team’s support system to rookies, ensuring they were involved when the players did things together away from the ice.

In terms of direct leadership, Campbell said he talked less in the dressing room and instead tried to do more on the ice, whether it was in practice or games.

Campbell played parts of two seasons and two full seasons with the Wheat Kings after he was listed, appearing in 148 regular season and 38 playoff games as Brandon went on deep runs in the 2015 and 2016 post-seasons.

In the latter, Campbell skated with Tanner Kaspick and Stelio Mattheos on a physically dominant third line that played a big role in the team earning the WHL championship in Seattle.

He contributed 24 goals, 30 assists and 84 penalty minutes in 196 combined regular season and playoff games. Campbell has another claim to fame with the Wheat Kings in his 18-year-old season. He scored 1:59 into a 4-2 win over the visiting Swift Current Broncos on Dec. 12, 2014 for the fifth fastest teddy-bear toss goal in team history.

He was caught up in a logjam of overagers in his 20-year-old season in 2016-17, however, and finished his junior career with the British Columbia Hockey League’s Penticton Vees. In Game 7 of the BCHL final against the Chilliwack Chiefs, Campbell displayed his big-game experience when he knocked in a rebound 9:25 into the first overtime period for a 1-0 victory to win the championship.

They subsequently were victorious at the Western Canada Cup to earn a spot at the RBC Cup in Cobourg, Ont., where they went 2-1-1-0 and fell in the semifinals.

The success followed him to Queen’s, where in 2019 his team won its first Ontario University Association championship in 38 years.

Still, he took his time last summer to decide if he wanted to play one more year, and ultimately made the decision to return.

“It was definitely on my mind,” Campbell said. “I think I struggled with it a lot more in the summer and whether or not I was going to play a final season. When I did finally make the decision to play one more year, it was tough knowing it was going to be the end but also really nice to know it was the end.

“I could treat every game and every practice knowing it’s finite and coming to an end, it won’t last forever.”

Campbell said the knowledge he no longer had years more in front of him allowed him to relax and simply enjoy the experience. He prioritized coming to the rink and doing all the little things, although it led to some late nights when he was on practicum teaching little kids.

“It was definitely worth it in the end,” Campbell said. “I was able to get a lot of closure. I was ready to start the next chapter.”

Campbell was a gifted student going into university, but being a five-time academic all-Canadian is still a notable achievement. He said a big key was the other players on the team also prioritized learning and were quick to help each other out.

As a result, Campbell was able to lean on older players as he found his academic footing.

“We would sit down and it was ‘OK, can you explain this concept?’” Campbell said. “The guys really helped each other out in terms of providing support, giving feedback and even handing over their own notes and old assignments to look off of.”

On a more personal level, he was good at setting his priorities and managing his time. That regularly meant he had to spend time in the library instead of with his friends.

“That was a big thing I had to learn early on,” Campbell said. “If you don’t, you’re behind and no one is there to pick you back up. It’s all on yourself. If you fail, nobody cares.”

Another trick was creating a digital calendar on his laptop. When he started a course, he studied the syllabus and then charted every important date for assignments and tests. That visual allowed him to create a week-by-week priority list.

By nature, he also preferred doing a little at a time rather than plowing into a multi-hour marathon at the last minute.

“Nothing is worse than sitting down and working on an assignment or project for six hours straight,” Campbell said. “I would way rather do five nights of an hour. That way, I found the product was a lot better.”

He certainly didn’t want to squander the opportunity his time in the WHL afforded him. Every WHL player receives a full-year scholarship, which includes tuition, textbooks and compulsory fees, for every season they are in the league.

Brandon pays for most of its scholarship fund requirements with 50/50 sales during home games and its new Black and Gold Gala, which replaced the Sportsman’s Dinner.

Campbell said the program is simple to use. The league contacts the school and pays tuition directly, and then other expenses are covered by sending in receipts for things like books. He knows people who somehow manage to balance school, athletics and a part-time job — “They have no social life,” he says with a chuckle — but that wasn’t necessary for him because of the WHL plan.

“The scholarship money was a huge help, just in terms of easing the transition into university life,” Campbell said. “It’s just one of those things. Without the scholarship it would have been pretty stressful financially but the scholarship allowed me to take the whole financial burden or stress off of my shoulders and just fully focus on the program, being in school and continuing to play hockey as well.”

He apparently had a little bit of extra time on his hands.

In March, the Ontario University Athletics’ East Division named Campbell the winner of the Randy Gregg Award for community service.

“Duncan Campbell epitomizes what it is to be a student-athlete,” head coach Brett Gibson said in a release. “He is as dedicated in the arena as he is in the classroom; add on his community work in Kingston and he is a very deserving candidate for the prestigious Randy Gregg Award.”

Campbell volunteered with Good Food Box Kingston, a non-profit fruit and vegetable distribution program that provides monthly access to fresh produce boxes, and also with a new Canadian youth group that spent time with Syrian refugees, helping them with their transition to Canada and teaching them the finer points of road hockey.

“It really kind of floored me,” Campbell said. “I didn’t feel like I had done that much but to be recognized of what I have done, maybe I have left a mark and left a good impression.”

Campbell called it a huge honour, saying he was surprised because it wasn’t something that had even occurred to him. He credits his parents with instilling him with a sense of community involvement, and added the Wheat Kings built on that with the work the team does in Westman with things like the Read To Succeed program in schools.

“It helped being from Brandon too because I was really eager to give back and show my face in the community because I was very proud to be a Wheat King,” Campbell said. “Within that, I fell in love with getting involved, hearing people’s stories and making a difference and for little kids being that role model. That seed was really planted with the Wheat Kings.”

He said it also benefited him personally because he realized how much he enjoyed working with youngsters and that his calling was teaching.

The education program he is in runs for 16 consecutive months, and he will finish up in July.

“It’s been six years now in Kingston just about,” Campbell said. “It’s treated me well. It’s been a great city to live in and I have lots of fond memories here. Ontario for sure is becoming home. We’re moving out to the Cornwall, Ontario area, which is where we’ll be settling.”

He doesn’t have a job yet, but instead has to finish his schooling and then begin the search. He added there is plenty of work available, so he’s optimistic something permanent will come along after a spell as an occasional (substitute) teacher.

Campbell keeps in touch with a few of his Brandon teammates, noting life has led them in different directions. The last time they gathered as a group was in an online Zoom call in the spring of 2020 to mark the four-year anniversary of their championship.

“I have the memories,” Campbell said. “It’s more just the fondness of it. I feel very fortunate and lucky to have had such good years in junior with great groups of guys and a great experience with good teams.

“I went to the final in my first year and lost to Kelowna, being able to follow that up the second year with a championship. I consider myself to be one of the most fortunate people in terms of a hockey career because it started with that championship in Brandon, and then being able to win a championship the following year with Penticton and then two years win a championship with Queen’s. Not a lot of people can say they won three championships in four years. It still blows my mind I was lucky enough to be part of that.

“What did I do to deserve such good luck and fortune?”

» This is the first instalment in a five-part series on former Brandon Wheat Kings who have gone to school after their WHL careers ended. It continues in upcoming editions of The Brandon Sun.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com

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