PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Dougie Hamilton's first taste of NHL exhibition action will be a memorable one, though not necessarily in the way he wanted.
The Bruins top pick turned in a solid effort in the club's Black and White Game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center Tuesday night, though his White squad did end up on the short end of a 4-1 score.
That wasn't the most painful part, though. That came early in the second period when Hamilton took a shot in a rather sensitive area.
"I got it right off the private parts," Hamilton said. "It's OK though.
"I think it was [Rich] Peverley," Hamilton added of who fired the wayward blast. "I'm not too sure though. It might have went off my stick and up. I'm not too worried about it."
Hamilton was in obvious pain after blocking the shot, but earned points with his teammates and the coaching staff as he stuck it out for the rest of his shift. He even attempted to block another shot before finally limping to the bench for a change.
"It was good," said Bruins assistant coach Geoff Ward, who ran the White bench with fellow assistant Doug Houda. "We've got some pretty high-character guys. We've seen the battling that they've put up with in practice. I haven't seen anybody in our group that's going to stay down on something like that. That's one of the things that's kind of in the identity of our hockey club and it's good that you see a guy like that want to get up and keep playing."
Hamilton never left the bench and returned to action a few minutes later. He finished the game and, despite the loss, left a positive impression on the coaches for more than just his toughness on that one shift.
"I thought for the size of the crowd and the fact that we probably had the less veteran defense back there than the other club, I thought he stuck in there well and made some good plays," Ward said.
Hamilton wasn't too happy with how his side fared, as the White team not only lost but also was outshot 29-19. But he did take some positives out of his own performance and the atmosphere in the building, which featured a sold-out crowd of 11,400.
"They were really loud," Hamilton said. "They said it was going to be sold out beforehand, but the player intros were pretty cool with all the cheering. There were a lot of Bruins fans out there, so it's nice to see that.
"I think they outshot us by almost two times the amount of shots, so we spent a lot of time in our own end, which isn't fun," Hamilton added. "I'll just keep moving along and try to gain that confidence and play my best."
Hamilton will move on to taking on NHLers from another organization, as he'll be among the Bruins traveling to Ottawa for the club's first preseason game on Wednesday.
"It's definitely kind of tough playing against your own team, but it was a good experience to get used to that a bit," Hamilton said. "Practicing with them all bit and then getting to play with them a bit, it was good. It was definitely a step up from the rookie games and the OHL and I think [Wednesday's game] is going to be an even bigger step."
