Consistency the key as Campbell prepares to lead Senators into 2026

The Belleville Senators will have a new look behind the bench when they hit the ice in Rochester against the Americans (AHL Affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres) tomorrow night. Former Belleville Sens assistant Andrew Campbell makes his debut as the club’s interim head coach, after being promoted into that role this week. As he takes over the interim role, he’ll be joined by Belleville’s other assistant coach Stefan Legein and goaltending coach Paul Gibson, who will move from the press box down to the bench.

The 37-year-old from Caledonia, Ontario, takes over for Dave Bell, after spending last season and the first half of this season as an assistant coach with the Belleville Sens, mainly handling the club’s defence corps. Campbell’s move to Belleville followed three seasons as an assistant coach with the Hamilton/Brantford Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League, where he won an OHL Championship in 2021-22 with current Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios (who was Hamilton’s GM at the time) and current Belleville GM Matt Turek (who was the Bulldog’s director of player personnel).

As a player, Campbell began his career in the OHL, playing three seasons with the Soo Greyhounds before going on to play 11 seasons professionally, including more than 700 games in the American Hockey League and 42 in the National Hockey League. While the majority of his AHL career was spent with the now-defunct Manchester Monarchs, where he was captain in 2013-14, Campbell had suited up for the Portland Pirates (defunct), the Toronto Marlies, Tucson Roadrunners, and Rockford Ice Hogs, wearing the “C” for two seasons in Toronto and one with the Roadrunners as well.

When his playing career wound down in 2018-19, Campbell says he knew he wanted to stay in the game and made the jump to coaching and will be leaning on plenty of the lessons he learned along the way from other notable coaches like Mike Babcock, Darryl Sutter, and Dave Tippett, as he takes the next step.

“I always knew I wanted to stay in the game when I was done, and I always knew that coaching was the avenue I’d like to get into,” said Campbell. “So, I always kept notes on different coaches’ philosophies, or tactics that they use, or drills, or how they interacted with players. I think I was pretty studious in taking notes and preparing myself for life after playing.”

Campbell says he’ll look to incorporate his Dad’s influence as well, who was a key figure in his hockey career and development as a person.

“He’s a blue-collar guy, worked shift work at a steel factory for over 30 years,” said Campbell. “He’s the hardest-working person I’ve ever met, so I try to emulate his work ethic and carry myself as he does.”

Coaching changes and taking on a new role are never easy, especially this far into the season. Campbell says he’s confident he’ll be able to help the players get back on track in 2025-26 and reach their potential.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, without a doubt, everything happened pretty quickly there on Wednesday,” said Campbell. “But there’s a job to do, and I’m excited to get going with the group.”

“The margin of error is so slim, and we’ve been really close,” he added. “So, it’s about continuing to believe and have faith that we have a good team in our room and we’re capable of being a lot better. I’m just trying to motivate, and energize, and get the most out of the guys,”

Living in Ameliasburgh, in Prince Edward County, with his wife and two daughters, Campbell says his passion for sports extends into his off time as well.

“I don’t watch much TV, but I love watching sports,” Campbell said. “I love watching hockey, obviously, I watch a ton of NFL, baseball when it’s on (I’m a big Blue Jays fan), golf, whatever live sport might be on.”

Campbell should have some downtime starting next week, when the team takes a few days off for Christmas. But is well aware of the importance of the upcoming three-in-three against Rochester and Toronto, and the work that will need to be done through the New Year and the rest of the season to lead the Belleville Sens to success and the players to the next level in their careers.

“Consistency is the biggest thing,” said Campbell. “You can’t have two good games, one bad game, or one good game and three bad games, and your practice habits have to be up to that level that an NHL player has. Guys need to be focused in every practice, every gym session, and every game, because teams don’t want unreliable guys, so consistency is the word that comes to mind, without a doubt.

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