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Originally Posted by Bingo
Missing team gatherings is an issue ... the suggestion he couldn't take criticism is an issue if true.
I think someone from TSN did a count on the number of times Giordano went back for the puck in X number of games and came in with a high 80s percentage or something. If true that's an issue too.
Then I just can't get past the fact that it's two organizations that essentially had whispers of the same problems.
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Yeah, this is where I come down as well.
The museum stuff has been blown way out of proportion. If Hamilton was just a quirky nerd off the ice it wouldn't be a problem. Bobby Holik used to spend most of his time away from the rink
at museums and art galleries.
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...While most hockey players spend their time on the road sleeping or going to the latest movie, Holik visits museums, art galleries and civic landmarks. He is a voracious reader, especially when it comes to news and history. And, in 1996, Holik became a U.S. citizen and was able to vote for the first time the following year.
Asked if Holik was a student of the game, Devils defenceman Colin White answered that Holik was a student of life.
"If you ever see him, he's wearing a suit with five newspapers sticking out of his pockets. He reads non-stop. If we're on a five-hour flight, he'll read for five hours," said White, who is amazed at what Holik does on the ice in the heat of battle...
- Globe and Mail, May 2001
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Holik may have been a bookish and independent guy away from the rink, but on the ice he gave teammates everything he had. And he was an assistant captain and a captain in the NHL. So this notion that NHL players will ostracize a teammate if he's not a dumb jock is nonsense.
The problem with Hamilton is that he didn't seem to have any interest on improving the parts of the game that he's not very good at. You can't have a top-pairing defenceman who's as shaky and undisciplined without the puck as Hamilton is. And when the Flames pushed him to improve, he basically sulked and said he was done in Calgary. You can bet Carolina won't be the last stop in Hamilton's career.