Kristen Campbell

Kristen Campbell made history in 2019 by becoming the first woman to win the NCAA Frozen Four championship without conceding a goal in the tournament. That postseason run, in which she shut out every opponent on the way to the NCAA title with the University of Wisconsin Badgers, also earned her the Most Outstanding Player award and capped a regular season in which she set a school record for wins in a single season, as well as NCAA season highs in goals-against average, wins, and shutouts.

Born in Brandon, Manitoba on November 30, 1997, Campbell began her collegiate career at the University of North Dakota, where she was redshirted in her first year of eligibility before appearing in five games during the 2016-17 season. When UND abruptly shuttered its women's hockey program at the end of that year, Campbell transferred to Wisconsin. Her first season with the Badgers brought immediate recognition: a WCHA Goaltender of the Year award, a spot on the All-America Team, and a Top-10 Finalist nod for the Patty Kazmaier Award. In her final year at Wisconsin — a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic — she backstopped the Badgers to the top of the WCHA in the regular season and became the fourth goaltender in program history to record 90 wins.

On the international stage, Campbell has represented Canada across multiple levels. She helped Canada claim silver at the U18 World Championships in 2015. She was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2022 Winter Olympics, and has collected three World Championship gold medals (2021, 2022, and 2024) along with a silver medal in 2023.

Before the PWHL was formed, Campbell participated in the PWHPA for two seasons — 2021 and 2022-23, with a break between for Olympic centralization. Playing for Team Scotiabank in the 2022-23 season, she appeared in 11 games, won five, and posted a .920 save percentage. She was subsequently drafted 14th overall by PWHL Toronto and went on to win the PWHL Goalie of the Year award in the league's inaugural season. She now plays for the Vancouver Goldeneyes, wearing number 50.

Campbell's work with goalie coach Brad Kirkwood — both with PWHL Toronto and with Hockey Canada's national program — has been a recurring subject in InGoal's coverage. The series of Pro Drills pieces documents practice footage from her time with Toronto, covering everything from crease movement fundamentals to a three-goalie puck-handling drill designed to keep all netminders active and engaged simultaneously ^[1][2]. A subsequent drill breakdown focuses on butterfly movement, rotation, and edge control ^[3], while another examines the visualization and eyes-closed skating work that Campbell and Kirkwood incorporate into their training ^[4]. "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," Campbell said, reflecting on how that habit has shaped her game ^[2].

Campbell's emphasis on puck-handling in every available practice moment was the subject of an earlier InGoal piece drawn from footage at the NET360 Goalie Camp in Kelowna ^[5]. "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," she said. That commitment to using every drill as a handling opportunity — making the opening pass, snapping pucks down after saves, and firing tape-to-tape passes whenever a partner is in the net — runs through her work with Kirkwood and has been reinforced in her role with the national team.

Campbell has also collaborated with manual osteopathic therapist and kinesiologist James Wendland, whose off-ice training work has been documented at InGoal across several articles. Footage filmed during Campbell's own KC Elite Goaltending Camp in Kelowna provided the basis for two recent InGoal pieces on hip alignment, balance, and gaze stability drills ^[6][7], building on earlier rocker board and Bosu ball segments in which Campbell demonstrated the exercises ^[8][9]. Campbell also appeared in Wendland's foot and ankle training piece, noting the on-ice difference she noticed after adopting the routine: "Having not done it much before, it felt like my foot was finally opened up and unlocked," she said ^[10].

Campbell has appeared on the InGoal Radio podcast on two occasions ^[11][12]. InGoal Magazine has covered Kristen Campbell in two podcast appearances, four drill breakdowns, and six InGoal articles.