Former NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell is one of the few people that truly knows how Brendan Shanahan is feeling as the league’s justice system continues to take a beating in the media (many, many, many, many beatings).
“It’s a very difficult job and lots of people have lots of comments on it,” Campbell told Sportsnet’s Prime Time Sports yesterday evening. “There isn’t an answer and you just do what you can do and you do your best.
“I told Brendan going into the playoffs that it’s different than the season. During the season, you deal with managers and they’re upset with decisions but you come to the playoffs and you got whole cities that dislike you.”
That said, Campbell expressed alarm over the numerous violent and illegal plays we’ve seen in the playoffs, including the ones that have been missed by the on-ice officials.
You can listen to the entire interview here. (Campbell’s on about two-thirds of the way through.)