Hamilton Discussion

[ComixZone]

Originally Posted by CsInMyBlood

Always earned, never given.

Hamilton has been given Gio as a partner and top pairing minutes. Time for him to go down to the 3rd pairing and earn his ice. I have no doubts he can and will earn it, but he has earned zero at this point.

and what has Gio done to earn his ice time? What has Russell done for his?

"Given Gio as a partner", good grief. What an anti-team stance to take.

[Flames0910]

Hard to single out Hamilton as the new guy on a team that's currently not playing well. He's clearly overthinking the game and has areas where he needs to improve, but the challenge of learning Hartley's system is magnified for him right now because the whole feedback loop is broken. Part of learning a system is learning to rely on and trust in your teammates instead of feeling like you have to do it all yourself. Hard to do that right now with the way the whole team is playing.

[jar_e]

Originally Posted by PepsiFree

Even 1 year into a young defenceman's 6 year contract is premature to judge if he's worth the money.

6 games is... something.

EDIT: Contract aside, give him time. Hedman broke out at 22 after 4 years in the league, he wasn't amazing before that. Hamilton has played 2.5 seasons and is also just 22. New teams and new systems (and a team that is playing horribly) is hard for any defenceman. Worse for a kid.

To be fair, Hamilton had 42 points with the Bruins last season playing 21:20 minutes a game. That's pretty impressive for a 21 year old and hence the reason he was highly sought after and paid rather large money for his present skill and potential.

Everyone's expectations are going to be different but he is averaging 22:47 minutes per game this season. He should be used to the workload....it's 1:27 more a game he's playing. There were dozens of players to new teams this off season and not some set of special circumstances for Hamilton. After watching Hamilton in preseason and now six games of regular season, I think it should be somewhat concerning we haven't seen much improvement in his play....regardless of new system/coaching/etc. Some of his plays are terrible gaffes in judgement and hence when he is now -6 and 10 PIM.

[locsofblu]

Let him watch a game from the press box. After watching that caps game its almost like he's super nervous or something.

[CsInMyBlood]

Originally Posted by ComixZone

and what has Gio done to earn his ice time? What has Russell done for his?

"Given Gio as a partner", good grief. What an anti-team stance to take.

Good grief?

Sorry Charlie Brown, I'm not sure what you mean. Anti-team stance?

Gio and Russell have shown much for this team, Douglas Hamilton has not at this point. So I was basically saying give him 3rd pairing minutes and let him show what he's made of to earn more ice.

What he has shown so far is stupid penalties, weak coverage, bad decisions and zero physical play.

[YYC in LAX]

I ####ing love Dougie Hamilton. The whole team stinks. Give him time. I know you can only say "we need to turn it around quick" so many times, but patience is required with Dougie.

[cannon7]

When Brodie returns I think Hamilton will be sheltered a little more to allow him to adjust properly. But Brodie won't save this D corps, we need a pretty drastic adjustment to the system as a whole.

[HighLifeMan]

Mark Giordano has been the primary problem to this point on defense.

He is the leader, he is the best player on the team, and he is relied on to be the heart and soul of the roster. It's about time he turned it around and started playing like it.

There is no denying that Dougie has struggled, but the rest of the team and specifically the veteran leaders on this team have not made his transition an easy one and for that they deserve criticism.

[Rick M.]

People complain about his positioning but I don't see that as the problem. He is in the right position but doesn't tie up the opposing forward's stick or physically move him out of the front of the net. Perhaps we can hire the recently-retired Regehr to give him pointers on how to lay on the lumber.

[troutman]

Is it instructive at all that Boston didn't want to offer the sun and the moon to keep him? They knew him best.

[IgiTang]

Originally Posted by HighLifeMan

Mark Giordano has been the primary problem to this point on defense.

He is the leader, he is the best player on the team, and he is relied on to be the heart and soul of the roster. It's about time he turned it around and started playing like it.

Dennis Wideman says hi! I mean, says "don't look at me"

[saillias]

Originally Posted by troutman

Is it instructive at all that Boston didn't want to offer the sun and the moon to keep him? They knew him best.

Yet their fans, media have insisted they offered him the same contract we did but he didn't want to play there. Their management has alluded to it as well

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Originally Posted by troutman

Is it instructive at all that Boston didn't want to offer the sun and the moon to keep him? They knew him best.

Well its concerning that they were willing to trade him and he didn't come as expensive (in trade) as some might have thought.

Hamilton is near enough 200 games in. He's not adjusting anymore; he is who he is. I fear his Justin Schultz imitations.

That said, as Gio is proving, even an established vet can have a bad month when under a lot of pressure. We'll see.

[PepsiFree]

Originally Posted by Bend it like Bourgeois

That said, as Gio is proving, even an established vet can have a bad month when under a lot of pressure. We'll see.

That's it. Everyone has been awful, including our Norris-level captain.

If he's not doing well, how are we expecting a 22 year old new kid to do better?

[BrownDrake]

He's playing an entirely different style than in Boston. I am not giving up on him, he does skate well and has the reach and ability to defend well. Out of his element and maybe now feeling some pressure, you could see genuine disgust in himself which is a good sign.

Gio hasn't look great either in his own end - will take some time for both of them to gel - probably wouldn't hurt to play Hamilton less minutes in the second or third pairing and give him this year to learn the system. Maybe Russell or Wideman can step up into the top pairing for a few weeks until Brodie is back.

[vicarious]

I think he needs more time to adjust to being a Flame and was thrust into the top pairing with a rusty Gio plus he's only 22. When Brodie returns, it would be nice to see Hamilton paired with Russell and Wideman moved to the bottom pairing with Smid + powerplay time.

I recall Hrudey saying last night that Weber and Josi didn't click at first either but they sure as heck do now.

[Huntingwhale]

Hammy will get better. He's only 22, one year older then rookie Kulak. Defenseman take much longer to hit their stride then forwards. I honestly don't expect to reap the full benefits of him until he's closer to his mid 20s. I don't care about his contract. I see a 22 year old learning a new system, playing with a team that's playing like crap. He's a long term investment and will be fine.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Rick M.

People complain about his positioning but I don't see that as the problem. He is in the right position but doesn't tie up the opposing forward's stick or physically move him out of the front of the net. Perhaps we can hire the recently-retired Regehr to give him pointers on how to lay on the lumber.

This.

This is my only real complaint with Dougie. Everything else is part of the adjustment process, but there's no excuse for not being hard on the puck/stick and winning battles. That's elementary for any hockey player. He just hasn't done it.

So if nothing else, that's the one area I want to see improvement from him. It could be because he's overthinking and not reacting to the play, but at some point you just have to trust your instincts that got you this far.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by troutman

Is it instructive at all that Boston didn't want to offer the sun and the moon to keep him? They knew him best.

I don't value the Boston management group's opinions very much these days. Besides getting rid of Chiarelli, trading half of their top player, using draft picks like scratch and win cards instead of investment vouchers...besides all that, they've been incredibly unprofessional in their dealings with former players and management. Taking the Flames offer for Hamilton was allegedly less than Edmonton's, but they didn't want to help Chiarelli out. Then they've notoriously talked down about former players and management. It's ugly, and quite frankly, I don't respect any of their decision making. Possibly the worst management group in the NHL right now.

So yeah, it means very little to me.

[doctajones428]

The kid is young, new team, new system. He is clearly overthinking his game right now and it's causing mistakes.

He'll figure it out. He might need to be scratched for a game to make him settle down and clear his mind. We need to remember Johnny was scratched early last year and it made him better in the end