Kristen Campbell

Kristen Campbell made history during the 2018-19 NCAA season by shutting out every opponent in the playoffs on the way to winning the national championship with the University of Wisconsin — becoming the first woman to win the Frozen Four title without conceding a goal in the tournament. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of that championship run, a season in which she also set a school record for wins in a single campaign while posting NCAA season highs in goals-against average, wins, and shutouts.

Campbell was born in Brandon, Manitoba, and took a winding road to Wisconsin. She began her college career at the University of North Dakota, where she was redshirted in her first year of eligibility before appearing in five games in 2016-17. That path was cut short when North Dakota abruptly ended its women's hockey program at the close of that season. Campbell transferred to Wisconsin for the 2017-18 season and was named WCHA Goaltender of the Year in her first year with the Badgers, earning All-America honors and a spot among the Top-10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award. In her final season at Wisconsin, shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped the program finish atop the WCHA in the regular season and became the fourth goaltender in program history to record 90 wins.

On the international stage, Campbell has been a fixture with Canada's national program across multiple levels. She was part of Canada's gold medal team at the 2022 Winter Olympics and has earned three World Championship gold medals (2021, 2022, and 2024) along with a silver medal in 2023. At the U18 level, she was part of the Canadian squad that claimed silver at the 2015 World Championships. Before the PWHL was formed, Campbell was a member of the PWHPA for two seasons — 2021 and 2022-23, with a break for Olympic centralization in between — playing for Team Scotiabank and appearing in 11 games, winning five with a .920 save percentage.

Campbell was selected by PWHL Toronto in the inaugural draft and was named the league's Goalie of the Year in its first season. She now plays for the Vancouver Goldeneyes, wearing number 50. Her work with goalie coach Brad Kirkwood — who coaches her both with PWHL Toronto and with Hockey Canada's national program — has been documented extensively at InGoal, particularly around puck handling, crease movement fundamentals, and visualization-based training methods.

In a series of Pro Drills features Pro Drills with Kristen CampbellPro Drills with Kristen CampbellPro Drills with Kristen CampbellPro Drills with Kristen Campbell, Campbell and Kirkwood walked through elements of their practice work, from crease movement keys to puck-handling efficiency to butterfly rotation and control. Campbell described Kirkwood's emphasis on constant scanning as something that has carried over directly to her game. "When I started working with [Kirkwood] he would always yell at me for scans but in games I don't think you can ever scan too much," she said Pro Drills with Kristen Campbell. "I think it's helped make the transition to game play seamless in the sense of always being aware what is coming at you."

On visualization, Campbell explained how eyes-closed skating and shot simulation drills that she and Kirkwood use with PWHL Toronto — and that Kirkwood has also used with the national team — have shaped her pre-practice preparation. "I find it really helpful," she said Pro Drills with Kristen Campbell, noting that by the time real pucks arrive, the movements already feel familiar. "I find then when we get into a goalie session it does feel like you have already done that drill and you are just more prepared to start with pucks."

Her puck-handling approach was the subject of a separate feature Pro Tips: Kristen Campbell’s Puck-Handling Secrets that documented how Campbell integrates puck work into virtually every element of practice — making passes to trigger drills, snapping pucks down after saves and crisply backhanding them to Kirkwood — rather than treating it as a standalone activity. "I think it's important that no matter what's happening on the ice you're finding a way to keep improving your puck handling," Campbell said Pro Tips: Kristen Campbell’s Puck-Handling Secrets.

Campbell also runs KC Elite Goaltending Camp, where she has collaborated with manual osteopathic therapist and kinesiologist James Wendland on off-ice training work. InGoal has documented that partnership in two articles Pro Training with Kristen Campbell (and James Wendland)Pro Training with Kristen Campbell (and James Wendland), covering hip alignment, balance, edge control, and gaze stability drills using rocker boards, Bosu balls, and Trac-Optics goggles. Campbell has also appeared in earlier Wendland training features 5 (actually 7) Damn Things with a Rocker Board5 Damn Things with a Bosu with James Wendland5 Damn Things to Improve Goalie Feet, including foot and ankle work where she described a direct on-ice effect: "I did notice I was much lighter on my feet after opening up my feet and I was known for being heavy on my feet when I am shuffling and even pushing, but now I am really absorbing those pushes better but it's because my foot is actually opened up now" 5 Damn Things to Improve Goalie Feet.

InGoal Magazine has covered Kristen Campbell in two podcast appearances, four drill breakdowns, and six InGoal articles.