Kristen Campbell

Kristen Campbell made history at the 2019 NCAA Championship by shutting out every opponent en route to a national title with the Wisconsin Badgers — a run that earned her the Most Outstanding Player award and made her the first woman to win the Frozen Four without conceding a goal. That same season, she set a Wisconsin single-season record for wins and established NCAA season highs in goals-against average, wins, and shutouts, capping a stretch of college hockey that established her as one of the most decorated players in Badgers program history.

Campbell was born in Brandon, Manitoba on November 30, 1997, and stands 5'10" as a left-catching goaltender. She began her NCAA 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 — only for the school to shutter its women's hockey program at the end of that season. She transferred to the University of Wisconsin, where she made an immediate impact: in her first season with the Badgers, she was named WCHA Goaltender of the Year, earned All-America honors, and was a Top-10 Finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award. Her final year at Wisconsin, shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, saw her backstop the Badgers to the top of the WCHA regular-season standings, and she became the fourth goaltender in program history to record 90 wins.

After her collegiate career, Campbell joined the PWHPA, participating in the 2021 and 2022-23 seasons — with a break for Olympic centralization in 2021-22. In the latter campaign, playing for Team Scotiabank, she appeared in 11 games, winning five and posting a .920 save percentage.

Her international résumé with Canada is extensive. She was part of the Canadian team that won Olympic gold in 2022, and she has since added three World Championship gold medals (2021, 2022, and 2024) along with a silver medal in 2023. Her national team involvement dates back to the Under-18 level, where she helped Canada claim silver at the U18 World Championships in 2015.

When the PWHL launched, Campbell was selected 14th overall by Toronto. In the league's inaugural season, she was named PWHL Goalie of the Year — an honor InGoal noted when the magazine sat down with her in Kelowna, B.C. to review on-ice practice footage from her time with PWHL Toronto ^[1]. She currently wears number 50 for the Vancouver Goldeneyes.

Campbell's work with goalie coach Brad Kirkwood — her coach with both PWHL Toronto and Team Canada — has been a recurring subject in InGoal's coverage. A series of Pro Drills pieces traced specific practice elements, beginning with crease movement fundamentals and the importance of scanning ^[1], moving through puck-handling work that keeps all three goalies active simultaneously ^[2], and extending to visualization drills that Campbell and Kirkwood sometimes run with eyes closed ^[3]. In that latter piece, Campbell described how Kirkwood would give a specific scenario — naming a shooter's handedness and position — before asking goalies to execute a save simulation without looking. "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," she said ^[3]. A fourth drill breakdown focused on rotation and edge control in the butterfly, with Campbell explaining the emphasis on "getting that backside hand around, and driving with that backside hand" ^[4]. InGoal members can find the complete breakdown of those techniques in those Pro Drills pieces.

Campbell's purposeful approach to puck handling in practice also drew InGoal's attention as early as 2023, when Kevin Woodley observed her working at the NET360 Goalie Camp ^[5]. The piece, available to InGoal subscribers, documents the specific habits Campbell and Kirkwood have built around treating every moment on the ice as an opportunity to handle the puck.

Campbell also runs her own KC Elite Goaltending Camp, which served as the filming location for a two-part series with manual osteopathic therapist and kinesiologist James Wendland. The first part covered six exercises using a Fitter First Rocker Board, a Bosu Ball, and an exercise ball, designed to build hip stability, alignment, and balance ^[6]. The follow-up introduced gaze stability drills incorporating Trac-Optics goggles and further balance work ^[7]. Campbell has appeared in earlier installments of InGoal's collaboration with Wendland as well, demonstrating rocker board exercises aimed at improving edge control ^[8] and Bosu Ball work connecting vestibular balance to hip stability ^[9]. Her commentary on the foot and ankle work Wendland introduced — that it made her feet feel "finally opened up and unlocked" and helped her absorb pushes more effectively — appeared in an earlier piece in that series ^[10].

InGoal Magazine has covered Kristen Campbell in two podcast appearances, four drill breakdowns, and six InGoal articles. Her conversation with David Hutchison on episode 147 of InGoal Radio ^[11] and a more recent appearance on episode 277 ^[12] round out that coverage.