OH BROTHER, THE HAMILTON SAGA HAS BEEN A HEADACHE

Flames waiving Freddie makes sense for team and player, despite Dougie’s unease

It’s about time the silliness surrounding Freddie Hamilton’s stay in Calgary came to an end.

Then again, judging by his younger brother’s reaction, maybe it hasn’t.

The Arizona Coyotes did the Calgary Flames a favour by grabbing the little-used forward off waivers Thursday, prompting the inevitable split between Freddie and brother Dougie.

The question now is how Dougie will respond. So far, not overly well. The big defenceman made his brother’s departure a much bigger deal than it needed to be after Thursday’s morning skate by steadfastly refusing to discuss his obvious disappointment over losing his roomie, brother and teammate.

While his sadness is understandable and expected, his decision to respond four times to brotherly questions from the media by simply repeating the phrase, “I’m just here to talk about the game,” suggests he’s not coping well with the split.

Is he angry at the Flames for exposing his brother to waivers with an eye on potentially sending his sibling and his one-way contract to the minors?

Is he simply too distraught to discuss the emotions of the situation?

Or is the long-standing concern that 24-year-old Dougie needs his 26-year-old brother around to buoy him on and off the ice becoming immediately evident?

Behaviour like that won’t make the story or situation go away.

It makes it linger, much like Freddie the 13th did as the club’s perpetual extra forward.

Fact is, the Coyotes did Freddie a solid, too, by getting him out of a stagnant situation in Calgary and giving him a shot at prolonging his NHL career past this season.

A healthy scratch in 31 of 39 games this year and most of last season, Freddie was a passenger here, kept with the club because of his last name. Harsh, but true. In doing so, it hampered the team, delaying the season debut of Mark Jankowski and several other call-ups like Garnet Hathaway and Andrew Mangiapane.

As soon as he was snagged by the ’Yotes, the Flames summoned Marek Hrivik, who has been a point-a-game player in Stockton and deemed by several scouts as NHL ready.

Clearly, this finally rights some wrongs.

It was evident long ago Freddie was the benefactor of the leverage Dougie had after the Flames gave up a first-round pick and two second-rounders to acquire him and then had to sign him.

Not only did Dougie land a six-year, $34.5-million deal, he clearly also used his influence to prompt general manager Brad Treliving to make a minorleague trade for Freddie months later.

Where it got silly was when the Flames inked him to a two-year, one-way deal, giving Freddie $612,500 annually despite showing few signs of being capable of ascending to a starting gig.

In 38 games with the Flames over parts of three seasons, he had three goals and two assists in a fourth-line role.

By all accounts a hard-working, well-liked player in the dressing room, Freddie was simply in over his head.

The fact that he ate up a roster spot couldn’t have sat well with many players in the room who knew exactly what was going on.

However, unlike similar acquisitions of Tanner Glass, Nicklas Grossmann or Eddie Lack, the Flames weren’t able to remedy the situation with a demotion, for obvious reasons.

A unique, tricky situation for Treliving who still deserves more credit for landing Dougie than he does criticism for having to acquire and keep Freddie around as part of the package. However, enough was enough. Thing is, eventually the brothers bunking in together had to end as Dougie is signed here for three more years and Freddie’s deal expires at season’s end.

The Coyotes simply expedited the split of two siblings who’d played together with the Ontario Hockey League’s Niagara IceDogs as well as Team Canada at the world juniors.

They have reiterated many times their childhood dream was to play in the NHL together, so this obviously has to hurt.

No one would dare question the legitimacy of the brothers’ pain, frustration or whatever other emotions they dealt with Friday when their unique situation came to an end.

It’s how the two proceed from here that can make it an even more painful situation or start them on promising, albeit different paths.

It’s up to them now — as individuals, not as a duo.