from Michael Grange of Sportsnet,

Hockey is back and fears about its bubble bursting can seemingly be put aside for now.

Interesting that one of the architects of its return -- hammered out in a 16-hour, overnight bargaining session just a week ago -- spent the first day of hockey season at home, on the couch, watching the NFL playoffs and waiting for the phone to ring asking him to come to work.

Chris Campoli was part of a small handful of NHLPA members deeply involved in CBA negotiations from the beginning to the not-as-bitter-as-it-could-have-been end. He was in New York for meetings in the sweltering heat of summer and there over the frigid New Years week as the deal finally got done.

It's understandable in some respects, his parents Gino and Lindsay raised him and his brothers to stand up for what he believed in; to lend a hand rather than let others carry the load.

"I enjoy being involved and active and I think it's important," said Campoli, whose track record of community thinking dates back to his junior days with the Erie Otters, where he won the OHL's top reward for public service. "These are the lives we live and we only get one opportunity -- in this case with collective bargaining -- to stand up for what we believe in. This could be the only chance for the next 10 years, possibly."

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