The Whoas! of Dougie Hamilton

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Par

I don't he would be worse, he would be a more of a Chris Pronger.

Chris Pronger at 23 was not the same Chris Pronger many remember on the 2nd half of his career. Hamilton is way ahead of him offensively at the same stage of their careers.

[red sky]

Hamilton looked lost to start the season (much like other players last year) so I hope he can come out strong and play the way he did for games 20-82.

[Lil Pedro]

Originally Posted by red sky

Hamilton looked lost to start the season (much like other players last year) so I hope he can come out strong and play the way he did for games 20-82.

That should be the case as he won't have to adjust to a new coach, system and partner again. I think the pairing of him and Gio are poised for a big year!

[Poe969]

I'm more worried about Brodie, not Hamilton. Gio-Hamilton looked like the top pairing in the league for the most part last season, we know they're both good but Brodie didn't really play that great until he had Stone so now are they going to keep him with Stone or try him with Hamonic or play Stone with Hamonic and Brodie with the #6 guy? There's more question marks around Brodie (and those questions are not bad at all).

The biggest question mark for the whole Flames D is who are going to be the #6 & 7 guys.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Chris Pronger at 23 was not the same Chris Pronger many remember on the 2nd half of his career. Hamilton is way ahead of him offensively at the same stage of their careers.

So you're saying we have a Nik Lidstrom?!

[Poe969]

If anything I think Hamilton is on pace to be a comparable to Pronger. Like EE said, Pronger wasn't nearly as mean when he first started his career. Let's hope that Hamilton starts to hate other teams and develops a mean streak.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I'm more worried about Brodie, not Hamilton. Gio-Hamilton looked like the top pairing in the league for the most part last season, we know they're both good but Brodie didn't really play that great until he had Stone so now are they going to keep him with Stone or try him with Hamonic or play Stone with Hamonic and Brodie with the #6 guy? There's more question marks around Brodie (and those questions are not bad at all).

The biggest question mark for the whole Flames D is who are going to be the #6 & 7 guys.

I'm willing to give TJ a serious pass on last year, and admire the fact that with everything else going on he still played a high level of hockey.

Less distractions + stronger partner that he can trust = Awesome

[Poe969]

I still think he played really well last year and I think he'll be awesome this year too. It's hard not to be excited about the Flames D this year, I think the biggest issue might be that more than one rookie push for a spot and they end up sending down a really good player because there's no room but then that guy will be the first call up on D and make it even harder to send him down again.

If anything the Flames D might be too good....

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Poe969

If anything I think Hamilton is on pace to be a comparable to Pronger. Like EE said, Pronger wasn't nearly as mean when he first started his career. Let's hope that Hamilton starts to hate other teams and develops a mean streak.

I don't think he has that in him.
Pronger is a true dick on and off the ice.

[Robbob]

Yeah, I think once Brodie was comfortable with his partner he started to play his game because he trusted his partner. I think as quick as the chemistry with Stone came, it will be the same with Hamonic because of the caliber of player. It is good to know worst case you can fall back to Brodie-Stone and still have a solid pairing.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

That OP post is funny. Pretty sure he was the guy arguing for Nichushkin over Monahan in the 2013 draft too.

[---Hatrick---]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Yeah, I think once Brodie was comfortable with his partner he started to play his game because he trusted his partner. I think as quick as the chemistry with Stone came, it will be the same with Hamonic because of the caliber of player. It is good to know worst case you can fall back to Brodie-Stone and still have a solid pairing.

You'd have to think that Brodie is feeling a lot more confident going into this season. He knows he's gonna be paired with a capable second pairing partner, which takes a lot of weight off his shoulders.
Being paired with Wideman for long stretches I believe really took him away from playing his type of game. Instead of the mindset of jumping up and joining the rush he likely felt he had to be much more responsible as Wideman did not have the speed to get back to his own zone quickly.
I hope playing with a solid responsible stay at home type partner such as Haminic will allow Brodie to play his game

[djsFlames]

It's true, pretty much the only thing Dougie is missing at this point is a mean streak.

Less pranking, more shanking, Dougs.

[---Hatrick---]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

It's true, pretty much the only thing Dougie is missing at this point is a mean streak.

Less pranking, more shanking, Dougs.

But keep up the Dougie Bombs! The Dougie Bombs are golden

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by ---Hatrick---

You'd have to think that Brodie is feeling a lot more confident going into this season. He knows he's gonna be paired with a capable second pairing partner, which takes a lot of weight off his shoulders.
Being paired with Wideman for long stretches I believe really took him away from playing his type of game. Instead of the mindset of jumping up and joining the rush he likely felt he had to be much more responsible as Wideman did not have the speed to get back to his own zone quickly.
I hope playing with a solid responsible stay at home type partner such as Haminic will allow Brodie to play his game

I actually think that Wideman - with all his warts - was playing fairly steady hockey especially to start the season. Engelland, Wideman and then Hamilton were the first defencemen it seemed to start playing well. The wheels came off for Wideman again unfortunately, but I give Wideman credit where credit is due.

I don't know what was going on with Brodie. He looked bad with Wideman, he looked bad with Engelland (and he looked great with Engelland in the past) - Brodie just looked bad. I completely disagree with it being a 'bad partner' - Brodie was making terrible decisions out there in the first half of the season that didn't involve covering for his partner. His pinches were horrible for instance, and Wideman I thought covered for him too often.

I think it was the adjustment to the left side, and not playing with Giordano any longer. The system changes probably had an effect as well. There are a lot of excuses as to why Brodie was not playing well, but 'getting pulled down by his partner' wasn't one of them. Thankfully they seem fully resolved (and I thought Brodie was really turning his game around BEFORE the Stone acquisition anyways), and I expect to have him playing well again this season.

If he gets his game back to where it was before, the Flames D will be lethal out there in all the zones, and I imagine the transition game will give opposing coaches fits. You have 5 competent defencemen that can skate with the puck or make a tape-to-tape stretch pass, and who are all good in their own zone (so they can break-up plays more effectively and turn that puck the other way faster). That's really lethal. I expect the Flames to absolutely dominate the teams with a poor forecheck now like the Kings (they don't have the legs IMO any longer).

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I actually think that Wideman - with all his warts - was playing fairly steady hockey especially to start the season. Engelland, Wideman and then Hamilton were the first defencemen it seemed to start playing well. The wheels came off for Wideman again unfortunately, but I give Wideman credit where credit is due.

I don't know what was going on with Brodie. He looked bad with Wideman, he looked bad with Engelland (and he looked great with Engelland in the past) - Brodie just looked bad. I completely disagree with it being a 'bad partner' - Brodie was making terrible decisions out there in the first half of the season that didn't involve covering for his partner. His pinches were horrible for instance, and Wideman I thought covered for him too often.

I think it was the adjustment to the left side, and not playing with Giordano any longer. The system changes probably had an effect as well. There are a lot of excuses as to why Brodie was not playing well, but 'getting pulled down by his partner' wasn't one of them. Thankfully they seem fully resolved (and I thought Brodie was really turning his game around BEFORE the Stone acquisition anyways), and I expect to have him playing well again this season.

Yeah, IMO excuses for Brodie that involve Wideman are a little oversold here. I agree he was making bad decisions (and the Wideman factor was that he's not the guy you want trying to cover for a bad pinch, because his footspeed didn't allow it).

Name me a player who's played with a partner the calibre of Gio and not had withdrawal pains when the pair is separated. I think the length of time it took to adjust, and all the right side-left side issues are on Brodie, though.

Hamonic and Brodie should be very good together IMO.

[Dajazz]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

I'm not sure Toronto has any assets on the level of Stajan, Hagman, Mayers, and White to make this happen.

I see what you did there....

[---Hatrick---]

Good, fair points.
I still do believe a player needs to feel confident to perform well, and I sure as hell would feel more confident going into the season knowing I'm skating beside Hamonic or Stone vs Wideman ( who I agree, did ok in stretches last season. His foot speed is however undeniably gone)
Here's to hoping Brodie finds his strong play again this upcoming season !

[belsarius]

I found it funny re-reading this thread how many of the detractor posters now say "Lifetime suspension".

[---Hatrick---]

It appears this is turning into a Brodie discussion thread. Lol