The Whoas! of Dougie Hamilton

[nemanja2306]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

PMM - I respect your hockey views so what are you seeing with Dougie? I am not calling him the goat but he as been very average so far IMO. This team, the way it is structured and loaded up with salary on the back end, needs him to be better than this I believe.

Gaudreau, Monahan, Brodie, Elliott, Giordano have been all average as well.

Not really fair to single out Hamilton.

[Enoch Root]

Hamilton has been on the ice for 2 goals against this year. Two.

His defensive partner for both those goals: Grossmann.

Since the first period of the first game of the year, he has not been on the ice for a single goal against.

And we have a thread called 'The Woes of Dougie Hamilton'

This is why all of the Canadian teams suck: after every loss, after every penalty, after every mistake, after every goal against, fans are online, on the radio, on call-in shows yelling:

He sucks! Trade him! Fire the coach! The system sucks! The GM is over-rated! He's not ready to play C, put him on the wing!

Etc. etc.

Fans simply don't have the patience to allow teams to build and develop success.

[Anduril]

Much of these complaints aren't posted if Backlund doesn't leave Hamilton to dry while Hansen walks in in OT.
Both players were exhausted with their 3rd game in 4 nights while playing lots in OT.

Honestly like what many of said, I think Hamilton has been showing a lot more positives in general. Just has to have the rest of the team (namely forwards outside of Backlund/Frolik/Brouwer) start to contribute offensive pressure and quality scoring chances.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I was going to say that am I the only one who thinks Dougie has look pretty good? Significantly better than Gio or Brodie to boot.

[RoughRiderRowdy]

Lots of weak feeble excuses for hamilton. Hopefully he proves us wrong but i highly doubt it

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

Gaudreau, Monahan, Brodie, Elliott, Giordano have been all average as well.

Not really fair to single out Hamilton.

Very true. They have all been bad and arguably worse than Hamilton and inarguably, are more to blame for the bad start than him. But I am relatively confident each one of them will return to form. Personally I'm just not convinced he is all that great. His defensive awareness isn't great and I'm not sure about his compete level. He does seem to be playing with a bit more of an edge this year so maybe we are seeing progression from him.

I mean Jokipakka's not to blame for the bad start either. Nor Bouma. But expectations are higher for Hamilton. Year 2 of a big contract now.

[saillias]

Be careful not to give in to confirmation bias with defenseman. He got walked a few times it happens.

The positive things he does are there too he's just not getting credit for them

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

I disagree, his awareness and compete are both really good. This is more about people being hard to move off of whatever they decided about Dougie a year ago. No doubt, he was bad for the full first half of the season last year, and people firmed their opinions.

He makes half the errors and poor decisions out there though compared to Brodie for example, but Brodie can do no wrong around theses parts. It's all about first impressions and established bias' and how they make us interpret what we see on the ice.

Of the high paid top end talent on this team Hamilton, Brouwer and Frolik came ready to play. Gaudreau, Monaghan (although I'll give a pass due to injury), Gio, Brodie and Elliott are the only ones we should be talking about. Simply not ready to start the season for those players.

[CroFlames]

I thought the forum was bad while we were waiting for Johnny to sign.

Starting the season 0 and 3 though made me realize the forum could get even more hysterical.

[Sylvanfan]

I'm finding some of the Bouwmeester syndrome with Hamilton. The player isnt as good as what many felt the Flames were getting and he's getting a premium level salary.

He's fine, but he's not superstar that it seems many were expecting.

I do feel that in the cap era the Flames have tended to pay premier salary's to guys who aren't premier level players. Bodie seeming to be the exception.

[flamesforcup]

honestly jokipakka has blown me out of the water this year and has been much better than hamilton. Im going to get alot of flack for this but i think why hamilton has looked just ok is because jokipakka has covered for him alot. Im starting to turn on Hamilton he looks the same as last year

[Ashasx]

I would like to see how Dougie looks when the rest of the team isn't running around like a chicken with its head cut off.

[Roof-Daddy]

Bouwmeester was a square peg that Brent Sutter tried to pound into a round hole for 3 years.

Not his fault, and although he was a bit of a softy, he's always been a very good, well above average defenseman.

We also got Bouwmeester when he was a fully developed 27 year old defenseman.

I don't like comparing Hamilton to him in any way. It's a flawed comparison for more than one reason IMO.

[playmaker]

Originally Posted by nemanja2306

Gaudreau, Monahan, Brodie, Elliott, Giordano have been all average as well.

Not really fair to single out Hamilton.

I agree, this is about our core. And I'm more concerned about Monahan who hasn't even remotely looked like the 1st line center you want to build your team around. Brodie looks like the 2011 version of him so there must be something strange going on.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by playmaker

I agree, this is about our core. And I'm more concerned about Monahan who hasn't even remotely looked like the 1st line center you want to build your team around. Brodie looks like the 2011 version of him so there must be something strange going on.

Yep, they're learning a new system and that will come with growing pains. Yet instead on CP we'll rate every player as garbage that needs to be shipped out of town for the next couple weeks instead of understanding what the issue is.

ErickEstrada nailed it before the season saying we'd lose the first three games because of the new system and a lack of preparation in the pre-season. Posters would be wise to not put too much stock in individual players struggling right now. But we will, because that's what we do.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

I thought the forum was bad while we were waiting for Johnny to sign.

Starting the season 0 and 3 though made me realize the forum could get even more hysterical.

Just be happy we aren't 0-3 and Johhny still unsigned.

I think the negativity would actually have the power of a collapsing star and the whole forum would get sucked into oblivion.

[Magnum PEI]

I never liked the Hamilton trade, and I dont think hell ever live up to his contract, but I think hes been decent this year. He got caught flat-footed, but other than that hes been OK. We've got bigger issues.

[Sylvanfan]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

I don't like comparing Hamilton to him in any way. It's a flawed comparison for more than one reason IMO.

I never compared the players, just the expectations and what are premium level salary's for the roles those guys can play.

[itsmagic]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

you're an oilers fan. hilarious. you got us good.

No. Not exactly Ashax.

I am a hockey fan.

Ok I do have a bias towards the Oilers. But it was from watching Sather's team in the '80s battling Johnson's well coached squad.

That, my friend, was entertainment.

Not as entertaining as reading some of your comments on the PGT over the years, but certainly worth the price of admission.

The best moments? I lived in Edmonton during those years when both the Oilers and the Flames were powerhouses in the league.

My father had seasons tickets; he took me to the important games.

The 1983-84 season for the Oilers stands out. You can google the details.

I had a front seat to hockey history being made...virtually every game I saw. Including the last one that season. I was there.

So yes. You are correct.

I do have a soft spot for that team.

That wasn't the first year I saw a game live though.

That was 1967 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Before Harold Ballard ruined the Leafs.

I was an avid Leaf fan at the time. Players on the ice included Dave Keon and the one and only Tim Horton among others.

Keon weighed only 165 lbs, not much more than Gaudreau. So there is that.

Oh and there was some rookie kid on the Bruins team who turned out OK. Better than Dougie Hamilton anyway.

Am I a leafs fan! Not now.

But I am a fan of Tim Horton's!

QED

[Insufficient Funds]

Jesus who the hell cares. You should feel privileged to being my very first blocked user.