[TRADE] Hurricanes deal Hanifin, Lindholm to CAL for Hamilton, Ferland, Fox

[SeaDawg]

Obviously we will never know the entire story, but Hamilton's "character" issues mentioned in the articles don't surprise me. He has always come across as a quiet, introverted person. I don't have a problem with that at all, but having grown up playing competitive sports, I know how some teams/players take offense to players like that not being an intense team-first type of player. I can totally see a dressing room filled with players like Giordano, Brodie, Gaudreau, Monahan, etc. yelling and tearing apart a dressing room after a tough loss while Hamilton sits in the corner by himself and quietly reflects on the game. When teams decide to have a team-bonding experience, Hamilton would probably prefer to be alone. In the end, I suspect Hamilton becomes an easy scapegoat when in reality his behavior shouldn't really matter if these guys are professional athletes. On the ice, Hamilton was a great player for Calgary, and I think they are a weaker team without him.

That's not to say that Hamilton is completely innocent. I suspect he probably did pout and act out some passive-aggressive bullshit after his brother was put on waivers, which likely only made matters worse.

[als_revenge]

I don't believe it is responsible to compare Hamilton to Hoffman without any facts pointing in that direction. Hoffman's situation is extreme and unique.

It was only meant as an illustration that things happen behind the scenes that do not get reported. The Hoffman thing is an outlier for two reasons (it's just completely bizarre, but also, stuff like this usually does not make it into the press). I'm not suggesting Hamilton is a bad teammate or a bad person. I don't know. I'm was only suggesting that my first impression when I saw this trade was "I bet Calgary really wanted to get rid of Hamilton, for reasons Calgary will keep private." I still think that is possible. My general impression is that Hamilton's trade value is not as high as his hockey value. I hope the kid does well in Carolina, they sure could use the help down there.

[DocMcPuffin]

Trey said there are things that lead to the trade that he won't discuss publicly. There was also a quote saying they only want players that want to play in Calgary. Maybe we didn't get enough but sometimes getting rid of a cry baby makes the team better as a whole and maybe that is enough to say they are happy with what they got back.

[lucafen4]

Hamilton seems to be having a hard time fitting into dressing rooms. Apparently he has an affinity for museums & when he was traded out of Boston, he was considered a loner & did not really hang out with any other Bruins players. Some of these personality traits may be mistaken for apathy towards his teammates/the game perhaps? A case of square peg - round hole perhaps?

[Ingolo]

Hamilton seems to be having a hard time fitting into dressing rooms. Apparently he has an affinity for museums & when he was traded out of Boston, he was considered a loner & did not really hang out with any other Bruins players. Some of these personality traits may be mistaken for apathy towards his teammates/the game perhaps? A case of square peg - round hole perhaps?

Just shows that GMs/teams are over-valuing "character" and individual personality. Hamilton is a high-end dman, with great possession metrics, point production, and compete level on the ice. At what point does it matter what happens off the ice, if the player is in the top 10% at their position when they're on the ice? Dougie's affinity for alone time has literally no bearing on his on-ice performance. It's not like these guys are contractually obligated to be friends, and I also can't find any reports of Dougie missing any mandatory outings. I just see it as a huge win for Carolina, since they ended up with the best on-ice performer in the trade, and all they have to do is pay for the guy go do the museum tour of the USS North Carolina every once in a while. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Also, I went looking for some articles regarding his "character," and this was the kind of thing I found, and it makes him seem like a pretty solid guy:

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/nhl/calgary-flames/dougie-hamilton-and-sean-monahan-recognized-by-flames-for-community-efforts

[PenguinHunter]

So, the rest of the team wanted to go hit on servers in skimpy uniforms, and Hamilton (who won scholastic player of the year in the CHL) has different interests. I feel like in this situation, Dougie isn't the problem, it's the rest of the room. So what if a guy prefers art over socializing? If the rest of the team doesn't like the guy for having different interests, there's a culture problem in the room that needs to be addressed. Heaven forbid a pro athlete is also an intellectual.

Great response here. I totally agree... maybe its not one player that has a character issue... its 22 other players that have a character issue. If the event is not mandatory by the team then why can't DHamilton go to a museum. He wants to learn and maybe he plans on having a career after hockey. And its not like these guys have ample time in every city every year.

I believe the quote on Dougie Hamilton was something along these lines:

"The whole team would go for lunch at Moxies for lunch and Dougie Hamilton would go to the museum."

[lucafen4]

Just shows that GMs/teams are over-valuing "character" and individual personality. Hamilton is a high-end dman, with great possession metrics, point production, and compete level on the ice. At what point does it matter what happens off the ice, if the player is in the top 10% at their position when they're on the ice? Dougie's affinity for alone time has literally no bearing on his on-ice performance. It's not like these guys are contractually obligated to be friends, and I also can't find any reports of Dougie missing any mandatory outings. I just see it as a huge win for Carolina, since they ended up with the best on-ice performer in the trade, and all they have to do is pay for the guy go do the museum tour of the USS North Carolina every once in a while. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Also, I went looking for some articles regarding his "character," and this was the kind of thing I found, and it makes him seem like a pretty solid guy:

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/nhl/calgary-flames/dougie-hamilton-and-sean-monahan-recognized-by-flames-for-community-efforts

they're not even really character knocks, perhaps he's just shy, or doesn't have an affinity for large groups (anxiety maybe?).

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Just shows that GMs/teams are over-valuing "character" and individual personality. Hamilton is a high-end dman, with great possession metrics, point production, and compete level on the ice. At what point does it matter what happens off the ice, if the player is in the top 10% at their position when they're on the ice? Dougie's affinity for alone time has literally no bearing on his on-ice performance. It's not like these guys are contractually obligated to be friends, and I also can't find any reports of Dougie missing any mandatory outings. I just see it as a huge win for Carolina, since they ended up with the best on-ice performer in the trade, and all they have to do is pay for the guy go do the museum tour of the USS North Carolina every once in a while. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me.

Also, I went looking for some articles regarding his "character," and this was the kind of thing I found, and it makes him seem like a pretty solid guy:

http://calgaryherald.com/sports/hockey/nhl/calgary-flames/dougie-hamilton-and-sean-monahan-recognized-by-flames-for-community-efforts

they're not even really character knocks, perhaps he's just shy, or doesn't have an affinity for large groups (anxiety maybe?).

[SeaDawg]

Reports are coming out that these are the same issues that led to him being traded from Boston. The entire team went to an end-of-season trip to Vegas, but Hamilton didn't go. Again, I've said it before, but I don't find that surprising. Hamilton really comes across as a quiet, introverted person. I'm sure he is socially awkward, and he probably just rubs the old-school "good ol' hockey boys" the wrong way. I used to hear similar things about Gretzky, but he was so good that it didn't really matter. In fact, I remember once meeting Gretzky and Messier together for a night out on the town after a Team Canada game (many others were there too...Linden, Stevens, etc.), and they were all being loud and boisterous and Wayne was just sitting there quietly not really paying much attention to the others and looking very much like he wanted to be almost anywhere else.

[ericdaoust]

If this is how a team judges who to keep and who to trade then they deserve to lose.

[Axeman33]

If this is how a team judges who to keep and who to trade then they deserve to lose.

Ya I agree. What he does off the ice shouldn't overshadow what he brings on the ice, especially if it's not in a bad way and bring the team into a bad light.

[lobo1969]

I believe the quote on Dougie Hamilton was something along these lines:

"The whole team would go for lunch at Moxies for lunch and Dougie Hamilton would go to the museum."

If I was a pro hockey player I would totally be in the Dougie Hamilton mold. I may like my teammates but I wouldn't want to spend all my waking hours with them and when you are visiting many cities across north America I would totally want to see the sites during my off-time. I suspect he is somewhat of an introvert and us introverts need some personal downtime on a regular basis to cope with a high pressure career and being away from home half the year.
I feel for Hamilton if he is constantly surrounded by personalities that are all that "type A" outgoing and intense personas.

[2014olympicgold]

If he was 27yrs old doing this (late 20's+) no one would really care I bet. The "mold" is he's young and should want to hang out, but that's not him personally.

Now he's in a city that has not a whole lot to do besides sports...Like North Carolina State U is the big thing there.

[hockeymanG23]

If I was a pro hockey player I would totally be in the Dougie Hamilton mold. I may like my teammates but I wouldn't want to spend all my waking hours with them and when you are visiting many cities across north America I would totally want to see the sites during my off-time. I suspect he is somewhat of an introvert and us introverts need some personal downtime on a regular basis to cope with a high pressure career and being away from home half the year.
I feel for Hamilton if he is constantly surrounded by personalities that are all that "type A" outgoing and intense personas.

I hear you, gotta have some time to unwind away from all the ruckus. It’s not like he’s taking care of it with drugs and alcohol which strangely enough would probably be considered just fine.

[SeaDawg]

I hear you, gotta have some time to unwind away from all the ruckus. It’s not like he’s taking care of it with drugs and alcohol which strangely enough would probably be considered just fine.

yeah, that is probably true. I bet teams (and players) would likely cut him more slack if he was just "doing what boys do", getting drunk all the time, gambling, womanizing, etc. I mean, Evander Kane keeps finding work in the NHL somehow!

[Axeman33]

yeah, that is probably true. I bet teams (and players) would likely cut him more slack if he was just "doing what boys do", getting drunk all the time, gambling, womanizing, etc. I mean, Evander Kane keeps finding work in the NHL somehow!

Not only does he keep finding work, he now makes more money then Dougie too.