Photo Credit: Hockey Canada
When most of us think of female hockey players, names like Hillary Knight and Dani Rylan come into our minds. However before Knight and Rylan, there was Cassie Campbell. Campbell is a hockey player turned sportscaster and motivational speaker along with being a wife and mother. She truly changed the game of hockey for women and her impact won’t soon be forgotten.
Campbell grew up in Ontario, Canada which is where her love affair with hockey first began. She first realized her potential when she was in college. She became captain of the women’s hockey team at the University of Guelph Gryphons which is essentially where her career started; mostly due to the team winning the Ontario Women’s Interuniversity Athletic Association championship in 1995. After college, she played with the Calgary Oval X-Treme team from 2001-2005 and served as team captain from 2002-2005.
Most notably, Campbell spent time with Canada’s National Women’s hockey team. She participated in the 1998, 2002 and 2006 games and was captain of the team from 2001-2006. She would bring back a silver medal for Canada in 1998 but in 2002 and 2006, she would help to bring back gold medals. In addition to participating in the Olympics, Campbell helped to bring six gold medals from World Championships and is the only captain to lead any Canadien hockey team to back-to-back wins.
After retiring from hockey at age 33, Campbell kept her passion for hockey alive. In 2006, she became the first woman to do color commentating on CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada and she became the first woman to work on the NHL Network. Currently, Campbell works as an analyst for TSN covering women’s hockey and for CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada. In addition to being an analyst, Campbell dedicates her time to giving back. She has worked with the Ronald McDonald house for over 15 years and is one of the spokespeople for the Hockey Canada’s Chevrolet Safe & Fun Hockey program. The program focuses on promoting fun in hockey while also making sure that the kids are playing safe, most recently focusing on concussion sustained in hockey. Campbell also works with the CARE Canada to help aid women and children, living in poverty.
In 2007, Campbell was inducted into the Canadien Sports Hall Of Fame. She became the first female hockey player to be inducted into the hall of fame and became a member of the Ontario Sports Hall Of Fame in 2012. She was awarded the Guelph Sportswoman of the Year in 1996, the Order of Hockey in Canada in 2012 and the CWHL Humanitarian of the Year Award in 2014.
