Dougie Hamilton is excited to make his debut with the Carolina Hurricanes, a team he describes as having “a lot of good players [and] high-end talent.”
It’s not unlike the Calgary Flames teams he played on the past three seasons prior to being traded in June. However, each of his seasons with the Flames ended in disappointment, something he hopes to avoid in his new city.
“When I went to Calgary, it was kind of the same thing, where on paper maybe we were the best [defence] corps in the league, and we actually didn’t turn out so good,” Hamilton told reporters Tuesday at a team media availability. “So, hopefully in Carolina we can do a little better of getting chemistry with everybody and really being a force back there as a unit.”
Despite some of the praise those Flames teams garnered for their back-end depth, the team missed the post-season in two of Hamilton’s three years there and the one time they did qualify for the playoffs they were swept by the Ducks.
Hamilton now joins a Hurricanes franchise that has made only one playoff appearance since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006. He mentioned that he enjoyed watching the Hurricanes squads from that era and admired players like former Hurricanes captains Eric Staal and Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina’s current bench boss.
“As players, we just want to get back to winning and having the fans come and having a good atmosphere and everything,” Hamilton added. “I’m looking forward to that.”
The 25-year-old finished tied for the league lead in goals amongst defencemen a season ago, setting a new career high with 17, and our Sportsnet hockey panel ranked him as the 73rd-best player in the NHL entering the 2018-19 campaign. He was the only member of the Hurricanes to make the list.
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