Early life and career Born in
Fleming, Assiniboia District, North-West Territories, Campbell attended high school at the Strathcona Collegiate Institute, now known as
Old Scona Academic, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He graduated from the
University of Alberta with a degree in law and arts in 1924 and was a
Rhodes Scholar at
Oxford University, where he played for the
Oxford University Ice Hockey Club. Campbell worked as a referee in the
NHL from
1933 until
1939. He officiated some historic games, such as the game in 1937 when the great
Howie Morenz's career was ended when he broke his leg, an injury that eventually led to his death. Campbell even refereed a rough playoff game between the
Montreal Maroons and the
Boston Bruins in which
Dit Clapper used his stick on a player. Angry at Clapper's actions, he called Clapper a profane name, which brought a powerful punch from the hardrock defenceman that knocked Campbell to the ice. Campbell, aware of his provocative action, then submitted a very lenient report on Clapper, and NHL president
Frank Calder gave Clapper only a fine as a result. At the end of the war he served with the No. 1 Canadian War Graves Investigation Unit. After the war he was appointed
King's Counsel, and was one of the prosecutors at one of several trial courts of leading
Nazis who were put on trial for
crimes against humanity. It has been widely reported that Campbell participated in the
Nuremberg Trials, but he said that was untrue in a
Sports Illustrated article published in 1974. Meanwhile, Calder had died, and with Campbell overseas, the NHL named
Red Dutton president. Dutton did not want the job, however, and when Campbell returned to Canada in 1946, Dutton resigned and Campbell accepted the presidency. One of his first acts of authority was in 1948, when he expelled players
Billy Taylor and
Don Gallinger from the NHL for betting on games. On March 17, Campbell attended a game at the
Montreal Forum between the Canadiens and the
Detroit Red Wings. Throughout the first period he was taunted and pelted with debris by outraged Montreal fans, who saw him as a prime example of the city's
English-Canadian elite oppressing the
French-Canadian majority. After a
tear gas bomb was released in the arena, Campbell exited the building, the game was forfeited to the Red Wings, and the Forum was evacuated. What ensued was a full-fledged
riot in which 60 people were arrested and $500,000 in damage was done. Campbell was elected to the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 1966. He was instrumental in the
1967 expansion, which doubled the league in size, and often worked 18 hours a day in his office. At the beginning of the league's Expansion Era in , the NHL clubs decided to highlight the achievements of the league president by donating the
Clarence S. Campbell Bowl in his honour. When the league realigned into two conferences and four
divisions in
1974, it further honoured Campbell by naming one of the two conferences after him, and awarding the Campbell Bowl to the conference's regular-season (later playoff) champion. Although the Clarence Campbell Conference was renamed the
Western Conference in
1993, the Campbell Bowl continues to be awarded to the conference's playoff champion.
Later life In 1976, Campbell was charged with bribing Senator
Louis Giguère in the "Sky Shops" scandal. ==References==