Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
I continue to worry about this. Who knows what happened in Boston, or Calgary, or now in Carolina, but it is not difficult to imagine that Hamilton has struggled to find any traction with an NHL team because he does not fit the hockey culture, for whatever reason. I think it would be sad if a kid with all the talent in the world struggles to realize his potential because he just did not fit in.
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I really don't think it has anything to do with fitting in. He's just not a good defenceman.
He seemed to fit in fine with the Flames players. He had the whole post game interview running prank, he always did the Children's Hospital dress up with the other guys. I just don't think there was any issue with the other players.
The only point of tension I think there could have been would be between Hamilton, Gio and Brodie.
I think both Gio and Brodie's game suffered from a) being split up; and b) Gio having to babysit Hamilton on the ice.
Brodie suffered cause he couldn't play the right side and Gio suffered cause he had to cover up for Hamilton in the defensive end which meant he couldn't join the rush and put up points.
The other thing is likely the Dougie being upset about the Freddie thing, which manifested out into the garbage day incident.
We are all speculating and don't know, but I suppose we will all find out when the Canes come to town later this month. Will be interesting to see if there is any tension between the players and Dougie on the ice.
I think the main issue, as to why he's on the block again, is because the Canes realized he's not good in his own end, which is what a lot of us were saying. You can't scout based on stats and especially not advanced stats. You have to actually watch the players play and if you watched Hamilton play, you'd know that he is not a good defender.
Hell looking at regular stats this year, you'd think Gio is 10 times the defenseman that Brodie is, but honestly, I think Brodie is the best defenseman on the Flames this year. He literally controls the game when he is out there. The points aren't there, but they pretty much need two pucks on the ice when Brodie is there because he has it all the time. It's crazy how comfort level (being on his preferred side) can lead to confidence.