Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Three days, three games and four points later, Andrew Campbell can call it a successful first weekend.
Last Wednesday, the Ottawa Senators announced they were free David Bell in his position as Belleville’s head coach. Campbell, a longtime AHL defenseman in his second season as an assistant coach with the Senators, suddenly found a new assignment: Ottawa named him the interim head coach of their AHL team.
The move came just before the Sens hit the road to start a three-in-three weekend with a visit to Rochester on Friday. Then it’s back across the border for a Saturday trip to Toronto before a home-and-home with the rival Marlies.
The AHL road is a familiar place for Campbell, who played 719 games in the league between 2008 and 2019 with the Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks. He also played 42 games in the NHL.
A leader at all his stops, Campbell took a quick step into coaching, joining the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League as an assistant in 2021. He took the Belleville opportunity in July 2024.
Mid-season coaching changes in the AHL often come when an NHL team shakes up its coaching staff and promotes a staff member from its AHL affiliate. In Belleville’s case, however, a 2-8-2-0 slide preceded Ottawa’s choice to shake up its AHL performance. Belleville’s first year general manager Matt Turek He spent time as GM in Hamilton, his tenure paralleling Campbell’s.
With a little practice time, a bus ride and an early morning swing, it was time for Campbell to lead the B-Sens behind the bench.
Belleville came into Rochester and picked up a point in a 3-2 overtime loss on Friday. The next day, the Sens saw a 2-0 lead slip away Lassi ThomsonA tally with 1:57 to go in regulation sent the game into OT again. It ended up losing 4-3, but the point gained is a point gained by the team trying to regain its dignity.
Back home the next afternoon at CAA Arena, the Senators came back hard. They led 2-1 and 5-2 before turning the game into a rout and tying the scoring record in an 8-4 victory.
“The first 24 hours have been quite a whirlwind,” Campbell said before his first game in his new job. “The phone was very busy a little while ago, everything is fine.
“We have a very good team in that room.”
Sunday’s 8-4 decision will still be fresh in the minds of both teams when the heated rivalry resumes on Boxing Day at Scotiabank Arena, home of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Belleville is one point ahead of the Marlies in the North Division, and in this upheaval, they are six points behind Syracuse and Laval.
Campbell had gone through most of those three-of-three weekends as a player. By Sunday evening, he already knew what his players had just been through, especially given the slate that spanned all divisions.
“It’s a long weekend,” Campbell said after his first win in training. “For the boys to put in the effort they did, [I am] I’m proud of them in that room there.”
In the American Hockey League for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams and currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for the league’s top scorer in 2016.
