Former junior star comes to coach Lady Islanders

BY MICHAEL PIASETZKI

The Chronicle

If members of the John Abbott College Lady Islanders hockey team have any doubts about the hockey knowledge of their newest head coach, Bill Campbell, they should simply look at his resume.

The 44-year-old Dollard des Ormeaux resident, who took over from Sam Ghilarducci about a month ago month after the latter departed to accept the head coaching position with the midget espoir Lac St. Louis Tigers, has an extensive career playing professional hockey both in North America and Europe. A highly touted junior player back in the late 1970s and early '80s with the Verdun Junior Canadiens, Campbell was drafted in the third round in the 1983 entry draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. He never caught on with the Flyers, and after playing in the American Hockey League with the Montreal Canadiens’ farm team in Sherbrooke for a short while, went on to enjoy a lengthy career in Europe. He retired in 1997, moving to the West Island, where he has worked as chief coach/mentor for the Dollard Hockey Association as well as coaching women’s hockey for Dollard and Lac St. Louis.

“I’ve always liked coaching the girls, and with what I do in minor hockey in Dollard thought it would be a good mix,” said Campbell, a gifted offensive defenceman in his day. “It’s hard to take over a team though, in the middle of the season. Now we’re on a break, but hey, we’ve got a staff that’s willing to better things. It’s a matter of putting together the things we want the players to do, and hopefully, they can start playing better.”

Campbell brought Hank Binning, who has coached girls’ hockey in the West Island and served as the first director of women’s hockey for Lac St. Louis, as well as Bruce Orr, a former girls’ coach with Hockey West Island, Louise Duguay and Mario Frappier on board as his assistants.

“It’s been hard on the players,” Campbell said. “They were caught off guard after Sam left, and couldn’t understand why he had left. All we can to do is teach and guide them.”

Campbell said his aim this year is to get the team into the playoffs.