Emotional Campbell says goodbye ... as a Blackhawks player

Brian Campbell - CEO and President of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Sound crazy? Perhaps, but John McDonough doesn't think so.

One day after announcing his retirement on WGN Radio, Campbell, with McDonough - the current CEO and President of the Hawks - held an emotional news conference Tuesday at the United Center that brought plenty of tears and a few laughs.

A glowing McDonough lauded Campbell in every way imaginable, and also made it clear that he is genuinely excited to welcome the 38-year-old into the business side of the organization.

"He kept telling me that he has this insatiable desire to learn the business," McDonough said. "So there's a very good chance today that I hired my replacement."

Campbell's news conference was packed with Hawks dignitaries. Troy Murray emceed the event and front-row seats went to Campbell's parents, his wife and two girls, coach Joel Quenneville, executive vice president Jay Blunk and vice president of marketing Pete Hassen.

Campbell choked back tears at least three times during a three-minute speech and follow-up Q&A with reporters.

"When I was 25 years old I still didn't think I would have a long career in the NHL, but I worked hard every day and improved my craft and waited for my opportunity," said Campbell, who finished with 504 points in 1,082 games while playing with the Sabres, Sharks, Panthers and Hawks. "When my chance came with Buffalo, I took ahold of it.

"It eventually brought me here to Chicago where I believed they were a team on the cusp of greatness - and boy was I smart at knowing that. It provided me with being a Stanley Cup champion and assisting on Patrick Kane's game-winning goal (against the Flyers in Game 6 of the Final).

The room then erupted in laughter when Campbell delivered his next line: "Maybe I should have shot that puck."

When free agency opened on July 1, some teams reached out to Campbell to see if he wanted to continue playing, but he never negotiated with any of them, knowing if he were to continue it would only be with the Hawks. And when general manager Stan Bowman said they'd be going in a different direction, it made the decision to retire that much easier.

"I understand. I've played a long time in this league. If that was the way they felt they wanted to go, I understood that," Campbell said. "It was nice that they gave me lots of time and I got to think about it and see what I wanted to do."

As it turns out, that is to stay in the western suburbs, join a country club and raise his family in the area in which his wife, Lauren, grew up.

Being offered a job in the business operations department by the Hawks - a franchise Campbell said is like no other in the league - is just icing on the cake.

"You go to other teams and the players are the focus," Campbell said. "You don't know the staff or who works there. Anybody in that (Hawks) office knows that they have a big part in what the outcome is of the games. …

"Everybody plays a part in it, and you don't get that in other organizations. There's been teams that I've been on where I couldn't even tell you what a lot of the staff looked like, or where the offices are.

"Where here the door is wide open. It's just such a big family."

Campbell's final tears came after he was asked what it was like to play his final season in Chicago.

With his voice cracking, Campbell said: "I don't think I'd want to retire any other way but a Blackhawk. It was fun. I had a blast.

"There's lots of nights after games I was with my buddies. And that was the best part about it."