You might have better luck guzzling a keg of disinfectant and surviving than repressing the positivity of Jack Campbell, Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender and the closest thing hockey has to a human rainbow.
“I can’t stop smiling at the thought of when it’s the right time for everybody to come back, how exciting it’ll be to get in the net and stop some pucks,” Campbell enthused Thursday from quarantine.
“I’m super excited to get back and see everybody and get back to work and play the best game on Earth.”
If any Leaf can handle the unusual and restrictive rigours of lockdown, it’s Campbell, who embraced his stunning mid-season trade across continent, conference and national border with gusto. So what if he made the move with just one pair of pants in his luggage?
Not only did Campbell promptly injected a level of stability to Frederik Andersen’s understudy role that had been sorely missing since Curtis McElhinney hit the waiver wire in October of 2018 — going 3-2-1 with a .915 save percentage in his six Leafs starts — but the 28-year-old netminder’s sunny-side-up approach endeared himself to fans, management and teammates almost instantly.
“He was an easy guy to get along with right away,” Andersen says. “He brought a really good energy and attitude to the team and just a really nice guy as well. It’s something I welcomed, and he definitely made a good impact on the guys.”
Defenceman Jake Muzzin, a teammate of Campbell’s in L.A. as well, said this week that Leafs management picked his brain about Campbell’s fit before Kyle Dubas pulled the trigger. And Muzzin noticed a world of difference once Campbell’s irrepressible smile graced the room.
“A huge positive impact,” Muzzin says. “He’s a guy that works extremely hard, his work ethic is one of the best I’ve seen in the NHL. He came in and did a great job and got us a few wins that were needed.
“He’s given Fred a break mentally and physically. He gives the team that confidence back there that he’s going to go out and perform and give us a chance to win every time he’s in the net.”
As the NHL and its Players’ Association attempt to graduate to Phase 2 of crisis recovery and begin on-ice training in small groups sometime in May — ex-Leaf Jake Gardiner intriguingly told Good Show that players expect an update on next steps Saturday — Campbell describes the past six weeks as “survival mode.”
Making the most of his last month of rent in Los Angeles, Campbell has poured himself into his cooking hobby and devoted this downtime to making his body more limber when it comes time to flash the leather cross-crease.
“It’s pretty scary time for the world, and the health of everybody is No. 1, but with that being said, it does give somebody like myself a chance to work on [weaknesses],” Campbell explains. “For me, it was my flexibility. I took the time over the last six weeks to really hammer out a bunch of stretching. I feel like, hopefully, I’ll come back an even better goalie.”
Once could argue that Campbell’s entire pro career has been conducted in survival mode. A first-round pick to Dallas in 2010, Campbell spent more time with the Stars’ ECHL outfit (the Idaho Steelheads) than its NHL one. A full decade after his draft day, Campbell has been twice traded, and his 64 NHL appearances represent but a fraction of the time he’s spent developing with farm clubs.
The trade to Toronto has provided Campbell with not only a big-league foothold — no obvious prospect is gunning to take his job yet — but, perhaps, an opportunity to take a greater chunk of Andersen’s starts in 2020-21.
Goaltending coach Steve Briere has been in regular contact, via video chats, with Campbell and Andersen during the pause, keeping the tandem on track with mental and physical exercises.
“He’s such a student of the game himself, he makes it easy for us to know what to focus on,” says Campbell, impressed with Briere’s eye for detail. “Everything we do has purpose, and I feel like each time we talk, I’m even closer to being ready to go.
“I feel really good about where I’m at physically and mentally right now.”
If anything is dragging Campbell down these days, it might be a light case of FOMO, watching Andersen and fast friend Auston Matthews link for rooftop alley-oops into the mustachioed sniper’s backyard swimming pool.
Campbell has been texting frequently with those roomies during this break. And although grocery-store recognizability prompted Campbell to grow out a beard around the “Road to 50” moustache he’d grown in support of Matthews’ goal chase…
“You can count on seeing Road to 50 as soon as play resumes, no question about it,” Campbell vows, with a smile loud enough to hear through a phone connection.
“Those two guys are pretty similar because they love spending time outside, playing sports, and I’m pretty jealous of Auston’s setup. I wish I had that here in L.A. I’ll definitely be getting some laughs in with them soon.”
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