The Boston Bruins play the Flames in Calgary on Friday, and Dougie Hamilton will be suiting up for the home squad.
It’s a scenario he says he would have never imagined a year ago.
The 22-year-old defenseman, who was traded from the Bruins to the Flames during the 2015 NHL Draft, will face off against his former team for the first time Friday night. Ahead of that reunion, Hamilton was asked about the surprising trade that sent him to Calgary after just three seasons in Boston.
“I think ever since I got drafted it was my, I guess, vision, dream to be a Bruin for life,” Hamilton told The Boston Globe’s Amalie Benjamin.
“I loved being in Boston, playing at the Garden, wearing that jersey, and everything. It’s definitely kind of weird when it happens and it changes so quick, so I still have a lot of pictures of myself in the Bruins jersey and stuff like that and enjoy those moments and memories.”
The Bruins selected Hamilton ninth overall in the 2011 draft, so it was reasonable to expect he’d stick around in Boston for the considerable future. But the Toronto native wasn’t interested in getting into specifics as to why he was shipped out of town.
“I don’t know. It didn’t work out and things change quick and I don’t know,” Hamilton said. “There’s not really much more to say. It’s just, it didn’t work out, and that’s it.”
Hamilton has had some growing pains in Calgary. He’s tallied just six points (three goals, three assists) through 25 games and has a minus-6 rating on a Flames team that entered Friday tied for last place in the NHL. The young defenseman admitted it hasn’t been a seamless transition from Boston to Calgary but insisted he’s starting to settle in.
“I think it’s obviously different, definitely an adjustment,” Hamilton said. “On ice, off ice, everything, so I think I’m starting to get more comfortable and everything, getting used to the system and kind of building chemistry on the ice. Getting used to the city and everything off the ice.”
Thumbnail photo via Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports Images
