Sabres prospect defenceman Brian Campbell won just about every award an OHL player could dream of. He was the OHL MVP, played on the OHL 1st all-star team, and won the Tilson, Kaninsky, and Hanley trophies recognizing the exceptional season the Sabres 6th round pick in 97 had for Ottawa of the Ontario Hockey League this season. While Campbell needs to make room in his trophy case, there's still one trophy which Campbell desired and that was the Memorial Cup. "It can be something that can be shared along with other people," Campbell said in an interview conducted by The Hockey News in their May 21st issue. "A team award is something I've never accomplished as a junior."

Sunday, May 23rd was Brian Campbell's birthday and what a present it would be for the now 20 year old Campbell if he took home the Memorial Cup that afternoon.

But something stood between Campbell and his destiny and that was Pavel Brendl and the Calgary Hitmen, arguably the most explosive team in the entire CHL. Calgary's prolific scoring attack came to life in the Memorial Cup Final as whenever Ottawa seemed like they were going to run away with the game, the Hitmen would come back quicker than Brendl can be quiet as night but then sneak up on opposing teams defences and burn you as he did in the Memorial Cup Final. In the third period, Brendl was skating open in the neutral zone, unnoticed by Campbell and Washington prospect Nick Boynton and as a result of Campbell and Boynton not covering Brendl as he sat around the 67's blueline, Brendl took an open pass and skated on a break-away where he would backhand the puck past Ottawa goaltender Seamus Kotyk less than 30 seconds into the third period to tie the game at 4-4.

Campbell did not have that distinguished of a game in the Memorial Cup Final. He failed to take the Calgary players in front of Kotyk and that costed the 67's as a lot of the Hitmen goals came right in the slot in front of Kotyk, most of which when Campbell was on the ice. He also almost cost his team when with about 17:30 left in the 3rd period with the score tied at 4-4, Campbell let Brendl skate right around him on the left wing shorthanded and get a free shot on Kotyk. Had Campbell had more physical presence, he sure could've taken the CHL's leading scorer hard to the boards with a good bodycheck instead of letting Brendl skate right around him and to the net. And Brendl's not the fastest player in the world either. I'm sure Campbell could've beat Pavel any day in a race down the ice but he still allowed Brendl to skate right around him along the boards without Campbell even attempting to even nudge him against the boards. Campbell also was of no assistance on the power play where Ottawa went 0-6 on the day.

The Memorial Cup Final was a very exhilarating one and went back and forth between the two teams. Ottawa has been known to blow 3rd period leads and it looked like that would be the case once again as Calgary came back to tie the game 6-6 late in the third period but thanks to Matt Zultek's goal a few minutes into OT, Campbell and the 67's won the Memorial Cup despite being knocked out of the OHL playoffs weeks before the Memorial Cup (for those who don't know, Ottawa was the host city of the 1999 Memorial Cup and the host city gets an automatic spot in the Memorial Cup whether they win the OHL, QMJHL or WHL playoffs or not).

The OHL's top defenceman (or at least that's the name he's been given because of the OFFENSIVE numbers Brian's put up) needs to be signed by the Buffalo Sabres by June 1st or else he will become a free agent and is eligible to re-enter this years' NHL draft to be selected by another NHL team.

What I now question, along with Darcy Regier who has to make the decision on whether to come to terms with Campbell or not, is if Campbell will be another Phil Housley or a mere image of Brian Fogerty who put up record-breaking numbers playing defence for the Niagara Falls Thunder but never made it in the NHL.

Campbell may not be the biggest player on the ice but he hits as much as Mike Wilson. For those that don't know that is not a compliment towards Mr. Campbell. While Campbell does have a great vision of the ice and can make a nice lead pass out of the zone, you tend to wonder if he will be able to survive in the NHL with the lack of size and aggression Campbell has. Sure players like Phil Housley have made it into the NHL on offence alone but the majority of players who lacked size and grit on the blueline saw their hopes of playing as well as they have in the OHL when they got to the NHL diminish.

Offencively, Campbell has what it takes. He's a very fast skater, works well in transition, can make a good crisp pass up ice, can work the power play and has a great overall sense of the ice. Sometimes he becomes so offencive-minded that when Brian joins the rush interferes with the forwards as Campbell tries to become a forward and not playing defence. Also, he tends to turn the puck over a lot bringing the puck up through the neutral zone. Defencively it is a whole different story. I don't think I have ever seen Campbell make a hit he and does not clear defenders in front of his net which proved costly in the Memorial Cup Finals.

I continue to question if Campbell will be able to make it in the NHL. He lacks the size and grit but can he be another Phil Housley where his offencive talents can make him a valuable asset to the Sabres? And I also question how Campbell would play on a team who didn't have as much depth in defence and goaltending as the 67's have. Would Campbell be able to make it for a team like Mississauga this year (even though that's obviously not possible since he was drafted into the OHL a few years back)?

Conversely, Campbell offencively has the potential to become a major force on the blueline and despite a few weak links to Campbell's defencive game, Campbell is usually in good defencive position from what I have seen even though once in a while he does get caught out of position. This was clearly shown in the World Junior Championships in Winnipeg this past January where he along with Islanders top goaltending prospect Roberto Luongo were two forces to be reckoned with.

These questions about the future of Campbell can only be answered if Sabres GM Darcy Regier does Campbell a favour and gives Campbell a chance to see what he can do in the professional leagues, but the clock is ticking down before Campbell gets shafted by the Sabres management despite the kind of numbers he put up for the 67's this season.