Brian Campbell Relishes Ice Time

Back when Jay Bouwmeester was a Panther, he was known for being able to play a lot of minutes per game.  When he was traded to Calgary in 2009 there was no one left on the Florida roster that could comfortably log such extensive time on the ice.  Those days are gone.

Brian Campbell is an ice-time stalwart. The 32-year-old leads the NHL averaging 26:53, with an average shift length of 56 seconds.  He is the leader of the defense and his 53 points have been a vital piece to Florida's 7th ranked power play. 

Head coach Kevin Dineen mentioned a game during the season where Campbell was upset that he only received 22 minutes of ice time and wanted more work.  Campbell is the type of player that wants to be out there all the time trying to make a difference for the resurgent Florida Panthers.

"There are times during the season when I was pretty tired," said Campbell.  "You don't want to over do it with minutes, but there were times during the season when we had stretches of injuries and I was putting up 30 or 32 minutes a game.  That's too much.  I had to change the way I played the game a little bit to conserve energy."

Fatigued or not, Campbell is seemingly out there for every important situation.  He is an extremely fast skater and has great puck handling skills.  As an undersized defenseman at 5'10", 190 lbs., he is slippery in traffic and has great vision.  It is no wonder that GM Dale Tallon tried to make him his first free agent splash to solidify the blue line, especially offensively.

With the playoffs here and each shift meaning so much, Campbell hopes to stay as fresh as possible along the way.  "I think anywhere were I'm playing average ice time to a little less I'll be feeling pretty good," he said.  "I definitely want to play a lot of minutes.  I've done it all season and don't see why it should change, and I don't think it will change."

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