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Calgary Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton is barely an adult. So, maybe handling difficult situations or questions isn't necessarily his forte just yet. See: his near refusal to talk about how or why his exit from the Boston Bruins went down the way it did.
From the Boston Globe:
“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.…Did you not want to be in Boston?
“No, I don’t know,… Hamilton said. “I enjoyed my time in Boston. I reflect on it now and look back on it and am thankful for, I think, everything. So I was really lucky with the opportunity I got.
Everything about Hamilton’s exit was weird. And it left the B’s with a bitter taste in their mouth. The Bruins were undoubtedly committed to making Hamilton the heir apparent to Zdeno Chara’s throne as the No. 1 defenseman of the Bruins. The franchise player, if you will. But Hamilton, who has since cited no actual reason for wanting to leave the Hub, had no interest in playing with the Bruins. That’s led to rampant speculation from all across the board. You’ve heard that Hamilton’s a weird guy, a loner, and that his teammates didn’t like him. You heard that his parents are the over-the-top hockey parents nobody wants. You’ve heard that he wanted out when the Bruins refused to trade for his AHL talent brother, Freddie, this past spring. When it comes to Hamilton, you’ve heard it all. From everybody.
Everybody except Hamilton, that is.
But the Black and Gold don’t appear like a club that’s missing No. 27. Not this version, anyways.
In 25 games with Calgary, the 6-foot-6 defender has registered just three goals and six points to go with his minus-6 rating, and has been far from the analytics darling he was in Boston. And while things appear on the upswing for Hamilton and the Flames, a visit from a Bruins club that’s won five of their last six, and eight of 11 on the road in total, is far from a welcomed sight.
Among the expected tweaks for this game, the Bruins have shuffled Brett Connolly back up to the B’s second line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand, while Frank Vatrano appears to have dropped to the third line with Ryan Spooner back at center and Jimmy Hayes on the wing.
The Bruins are expected to give this start to back-up netminder Jonas Gustavsson. The 31-year-old Gustavsson was impressive in his last outing, stopping 32-of-34 in an overtime win over the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena on Nov. 25, and comes into action with a .920 save percentage and wins in all but one of his six appearances this season. Gustavsson’s career figures against the Flames, however, are far from pretty, as the Swede enters play with one win, a 4.01 goals against average, and nightmarish .857 save percentage in six career games against Calgary.
Calgary will counter with Karri Ramo. This will be Ramo’s 14th start in the last 15 games, and comes following a 26-of-29 showing in a Tuesday night shootout win over Dallas. The 29-year-old netminder has four wins in his last nine starts, and comes into tonight’s tilt with a 7-8-1 record and .899 save percentage overall. Ramo has two wins and a .901 save percentage in three career games against the Bruins, including a 34-of-37 shootout victory over the B’s in his last start against ‘em.
Other news and notes
Forward Tyler Randell and defensemen Kevan Miller (officially activated from IR) and Joe Morrow were the healthy scratches for the Black and Gold on Wednesday night. And without a morning skate, you could expect that to remain the case for tonight’s tilt in Calgary.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Boston Chapter of the Pro Hockey Writers Association since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.