The public might never know exactly what Dougie Hamilton’s relationship with his former Boston Bruins teammates was like behind closed doors.
But as the Bruins prepared to visit Hamilton’s Calgary Flames for the first time Friday night, they had nothing but good things to say about the young defenseman.
“Dougie’s a good kid,” winger Brad Marchand told reporters Friday morning, as aired on “NESN Live.” “He’s pretty easygoing and a good guy to be around. He’s a fun guy, and I always liked him.”
Center Patrice Bergeron offered a similar take on Hamilton, who spent his first three NHL seasons in Boston before a draft-night trade this past summer sent him to Calgary.
“He was a great teammate,” Bergeron told reporters. “I think he’s a guy that was a young guy trying to come in and learn his way around things. A guy that had a lot of talent and still has a lot of talent, obviously. A great player, and I wish him all the best.”
Hamilton declined to discuss specifics of his departure this week in meetings with Boston media members, but he did say he’d dreamed of being a “Bruin for life.”
“I loved being in Boston, playing at the Garden, wearing that jersey, and everything,” he said, via The Boston Globe. “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.”
After tallying a career-high 42 points in his last season in black and gold, Hamilton has struggled thus far in his new sweater. The 22-year-old has just three goals and three assists in 25 games for the Flames, though he did score the game-tying goal Wednesday in a 4-3 shootout win over the Dallas Stars.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
