How Will Dougie Hamilton Play Against His Former Team?
By Matt Dolloff (@mattdolloff)
BOSTON (CBS) -- A quick look at the numbers, and it looks like the Bruins have the last laugh with Dougie Hamilton.
The former B's defenseman has struggled early on with the Calgary Flames, scoring just 3 goals and 6 points in 25 games, blasting theories that he would flourish offensively after escaping the Bruins' defensive style. His already-questionable defensive and possession performance has dropped off significantly too; he has 20 giveaways to only 3 takeaways, and his CorsiFor % sits at 49.8%, meaning the Flames control the puck less than half the time he is on the ice. Hamilton is also fifth among Flames defensemen in average time on ice - less than Dennis Wideman.
Of course, the kid is still just 22 years old and has plenty of time to blossom into the No. 1 defenseman he was expected to be when the Bruins drafted him 9th overall in 2011. And he's not alone; most of the Flames team is underachieving after what looked like a promising roster entering the season. But, needless to say, it's a horribly slow start for Hamilton in Calgary and an early victory lap for his detractors in the northeast.
It will take a few years to figure out who really "won" the Hamilton trade, with Dougie's development in addition to the Bruins' young draft picks pending. But the first matchup of the post-Hamilton era happens Friday night at the Saddledome, and the lowly Flames are one of the few teams in the league the Bruins should be able to safely dominate.
According to the Calgary Sun, Hamilton has played better of late, and I'll take their word for it because they have seen infinitely more of them this season than I have. But by playing better, they mean "In a dozen November dates, he was only a minus-player twice."
The Sun also notes today that the Flames enter Friday night with the league's worst penalty-killing percentage at 71.6 percent, and they're going up against the Bruins' league-leading (!) power play, which is still scoring at a ridiculous 31.4 percent clip. Unlikely we'll see much of Hamilton in those situations.
After damning reports that Hamilton wouldn't sign with the Bruins unless they traded for his brother, and that his parents are, to put it nicely, "heavily involved in his career," it's hard to find many positives in the past year for Hamilton. But it remains to be seen if he can pull off a Tyler Seguin-esque middle-finger performance against his former team. Friday night is his first chance.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. His opinions do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read more from Matt here. Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
