- Jack Campbell called his years with the Maple Leafs the greatest days of his life
- The retired goalie said his own self-talk was tougher than anything fans or media threw at him
- Read below for Campbell’s full reflection on Toronto and his next chapter
Jack Campbell looks back on his Maple Leafs run as the high point of his hockey life.
The question on The Sheet with Jeff Marek was whether the pressure of playing in Toronto had worn him down. His answer flipped the premise.
“How hard it was to play in Toronto? It was the greatest days of my life. The hockey’s obvious. The fan base is electric. The teammates that I had there, I was fortunate enough to not only play with but build relationships with that hopefully will last forever. I met my wife there.”
Watch Campbell’s full sit-down with Marek:
Toronto landed Campbell from Los Angeles at the 2020 trade deadline. He backed up Frederik Andersen before grabbing the starting job late in 2021 and holding it through the following season.
The fans took to him fast. Campbell opened the 2020-21 season 11-0-0, a franchise record for consecutive wins to start a year, and earned an All-Star nod the next season.
The hard part, by his own telling, was never the outside noise. Campbell got candid about the fight that actually mattered.
“Nothing a fan or the media or anything would say would ever be as bad as the self-talk that I was doing to myself. It wouldn’t matter if I don’t work on what’s going on up in my own head.”
That mindset is steering his next move. Campbell is stepping away from the crease to work as an identity and performance coach, a plan he laid out when he announced his retirement on Monday.
He suited up for Dallas, Los Angeles, Toronto and Edmonton across eight NHL seasons. The blue and white is the stop he would sign up for all over again.
