Player Discussion Dougie Hamilton; RHD

[JurassicTunga]

Way too many jumped on him, calling him a bust and were ready to run him out of town way too early. It takes time to adjust. It's funny looking back at the "Dougie Hamilton has ruined the Calgary Flames" thread. Bunch of nonsense. People seemed to forget that he's still just a kid also. Just turning 22.

He's been awesome lately.

 

[BigRangy]

To my eyes, he's still soft and easy to play against in the D zone, so he definitely won't be shutting down top lines yet. Right now I'd say he's a better skating, bigger Wideman, but I am confident he will get better and better every year.

 

[Yung Rotini]

My main knock on Dougie is that he just doesn't use his size. I mean, he's 6'6 for **** sakes. I don't expect him to be a physical machine, but maybe a bit of work in that aspect would help him go a long way.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I am totally surprised at Dougies turnaround after an adequate amount of games played

I mean really, what did people expect? The Ahl is full of dman that are his age and are still learning to be a pro. He's still young and came to a new system, it was gonna take some time. He's only going to keep improving, will be fun to watch him.

 

[1989]

For those who'd hope he played the body more is like asking Gaudreau to play more like Theo Fleury.
Sure, they possess certain physical characteristics and/or share a very similar talent level but the reason why they've found success in the past and hopefully in the present/future is because they play how they play. To ask them to change too much of their game (Gaudreau with fearless tenacity like Fleury or Dougie to play like Chara) is likely to be a greater hindrance than help at this point.

Let Hamilton focus on what he does best: skating, playing the puck, and making smart reads in all three zones. I'm sure he'll be physical when he absolutely needs to be but generally speaking, that's not his forte and not how he's been the most effective - and better, more informed people have tried to have him play physical.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

To add Sig, Dougie doesn't appear to have a very muscular frame. It's clear to me as you mentioned that he's made a living off of being a Lidstrom and not a Pronger.

 

[1989]

To add Sig, Dougie doesn't appear to have a very muscular frame. It's clear to me as you mentioned that he's made a living off of being a Lidstrom and not a Pronger.

He's definitely a lean guy, as evidenced by that ugly Christmas sweater promo.

Basically, the argument that Hamilton should more physically is just not a smart one. Countless professional coaches and systems have realized that, regardless of his physical stature.

Mostly, trying to force it just reminds me of the Einstein quote, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.â€
Let Hamilton swim.

 

[Kahvi]

Nothing better to do, so I went through Dougie's stats.
30gp, 3+7=10, 0, 18PIM. On pace for 82gp, 8+19=27, 0, 49PIM. Not bad.

However, since Brodie came back, Hamilton's stats are
21gp, 2+7=9, +12, 6PIM. That would project to 82gp, 8+27=35, +47 D), 24PIM.

Good looking stats, though that +/- rating is ridiculous (not a chance he'd get anywhere close).

 

[Meowmix]

Points and plus/mnus are one, but he really fixed the penalties part. I guess he was just out of position and/or nervous to start the year, resulting in foolish minors. Averaging 2 mins per game in the first 9, averaging 17 sec per game since.

 

[Volica]

He's looked great over the past, what, 20 odd games or so?

It's amazing he's got his +/- to 0 after that start What I like, is even though Johnny's become our ace finisher, he's been directly involved with 3 of the goals we've scored in the extra time frame.

I don't expect him to develop some nasty in his game, that's not his game, but I like what I've seen defensively. IF he uses his reach, his frame and skating; he'll always be in a good position to make the right play. If this kid keeps it fairly simple defensively, he'll look like a genius

 

[tmurfin]

All he has to do it play a Wideman type defensive game (when he's on), solid positionally and use the stick well. Being bigger and faster, he should be able to be better at it as well. Serviceable/decent D game, and 40++ pts a year? I am 100% good with that.

 

[LowSodium]

Is Hamilton part of the reason Calgary has turned their season around?

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Is Hamilton part of the reason Calgary has turned their season around?

Our season turned around on largely two things:

1. Goaltending stopped being gawd awful.
2. Defensemen not named Brodie got their heads out of their *****. Gio, Hamilton and Russell playing better is just as large a part of it as Ramo in my opinion.

 

[Calculon]

Is Hamilton part of the reason Calgary has turned their season around?

Lots of players have turned things around but it's mostly because of Brodie returning and subsequent trickle down effects.

His return let Giordano calm down. And with him (and Gio) taking the tough matches and holding their own again, all the others pairs get to face easier competition and look better for it.

Once the defence stopped looking like it belonged in the AHL, it gave Ramo the opportunity to get comfortable and in a roll, to the point where he can steal periods for them too.

Hamilton was thrown into the frying pan at the start. Once Brodie came back, there was more leeway to ease him into things. And now that he's more comfortable, he's driving the play positively and looking like the player people expected him to be.

 

[Dertell]

Is Hamilton part of the reason Calgary has turned their season around?

Part of it is the D as a whole improving (which, yes, includes Brodie; he fired a ton of passes in his first games). Better shooting% and goaltending helped as well.

 

[MuffinMerc]

Is Hamilton part of the reason Calgary has turned their season around?

No. He was an early reason why we were doing so ****.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

No. He was an early reason why we were doing so ****.

Are you saying that he hasn't been a part of the Flames turnaround? Which is what his question was if I'm not mistaken. But please continue to post that some guys suck just for the sake of it.

 

[MuffinMerc]

Are you saying that he hasn't been a part of the Flames turnaround? Which is what his question was if I'm not mistaken. But please continue to post that some guys suck just for the sake of it.

 

[OConnellsProtege]

Bruins fan coming in peace. Just wanted to know what you guys think of DH? I haven't heard any rumblings since early December, safe to say he's getting better?

 

[Anglesmith]

Bruins fan coming in peace. Just wanted to know what you guys think of DH? I haven't heard any rumblings since early December, safe to say he's getting better?

Yup, he's growing leaps and bounds since Brodie's return took him off the top pairing. Definitely went through an adjustment period, but he's really settled in nicely now.

 

[MonaHan Solo]

Bruins fan coming in peace. Just wanted to know what you guys think of DH? I haven't heard any rumblings since early December, safe to say he's getting better?

Games 1-24

Games 25-Current

 

[Dertell]

Bruins fan coming in peace. Just wanted to know what you guys think of DH? I haven't heard any rumblings since early December, safe to say he's getting better?

He was a train wreck in the first six games, then he went back to his old ways and kept getting better and better.

 

[Yung Rotini]

I've noticed that he's been more physical lately too.

Ayyyy lmao.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

He's a stud, he's everything Jbo should have been. Big, smooth skating dman, is a little chippy, has a fantastic shot and makes excellent reads/passes. He's also pretty solid in his own end. Now that he's learned our system, he's really playing to his strengths. TBH, the last 15 games or so, he's looked as good if not better than Gio IMO.

 

[King In The North]

He's a stud, he's everything Jbo should have been. Big, smooth skating dman, is a little chippy, has a fantastic shot and makes excellent reads/passes. He's also pretty solid in his own end. Now that he's learned our system, he's really playing to his strengths. TBH, the last 15 games or so, he's looked as good if not better than Gio IMO.

That's a good way to put it, what Bouwmeester should've been. He's looked great behind the top pairing. Yeah he's getting paid big money now but I don't think anyone was expecting him to disrupt the Gio-Brodie pairing, at least not this season. He's only going to get better, which is scary.