Chiarelli finally gets his D-man
Ever since Peter Chiarelli took over as Bruins general manager in 2006, he had been in search of that elusive puck-moving defenseman, the guy who could make the quick first pass out of the defensive zone to start the rush and also ignite the offense and power play from the blue line.
Dennis Wideman, whom Chiarelli acquired in a trade for Brad Boyes in the GM’s first season, had been the best of the bunch, but his maddening inconsistency led to the excellent trade for Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell.
Tomas Kaberle, after being obtained in February 2011, raised the Stanley Cup with the rest of the B’s that spring, but his contribution was much smaller than anticipated and the B’s let him walk in free agency.
As a bridge, the Bruins acquired Joe Corvo prior to last season, but he never really adapted well to the team’s defensive system.
But now it certainly looks like Chiarelli has finally found what he’s been searching for.
Dougie Hamilton is only four games into his NHL career, and it’s a good bet there will be a game or two down the road in which he’ll remind everyone that he is 19 years old, but he is showing off the attributes that made Chiarelli, coach Claude Julien and the B’s scouts so excited — size, speed, stick skills and hockey smarts.
His most impressive moment came on the gamesealing play in Friday’s 4-2 win over the New York Islanders, a long diagonal pass that eventually resulted in Patrice Bergeron’s clean break-in goal. Hamilton’s three assists put him in a five-way tie for the team points lead.
Julien, who had raved about Hamilton after watching him play for Niagara (OHL) during the lockout, believes that a couple of things have helped the 6-foot-5 youngster in his transition to the pro game.
“He’s been playing since September with his junior team, he’s gone to the world juniors, so he’s played in high-caliber tournaments. So he’s got that experience and he’s come in here with a good jump, having played four months of hockey, and right now he’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Julien said after Friday’s win.
“The guys that he’s playing with have been extremely helpful with him on the ice. I think that’s why our (front office) guys drafted him, because they saw a lot of things we’re seeing right now. We liked his size, we liked the way he moved on the ice, but at the same time, we thought he had real good hockey sense. He sees the ice well, he finds the passing lanes, and you saw on that goal the breakout out of our own end.
“You see the guy scoring, but it all starts from our end, and that was from his pass to (Brad) Marchand and to Bergy for the breakaway. Those kind of things are what our scouts saw in him and those kind of things he’s demonstrating right now. You have to be pleased and impressed with a young player playing the way he has been.”
Despite their 3-0-1 start, the B’s are not exactly firing on all cylinders. The power play is 1-for-17, their leading goalscorer from last year (Tyler Seguin) has not found the back of the net, and the third line has not been able to produce yet. Since their excellent opening night win over the Rangers, the three subsequent games have been upand-down affairs.
Yet the B’s have somehow managed to power through it, and Hamilton’s performance has been one of the reasons.
“It’s a spark,” Milan Lucic said of Hamilton’s effect on the team. “You always like to see the young guys come in and play well and have that excitement of living their dream of being in the NHL. It’s great to see. It wasn’t too long ago when I was 19 and first came into the league and was having a lot of fun. Obviously, he’s at a different level than I was at 19 years old. It’s great that he’s able to bring that extra energy to the team, and to see him do well like that definitely gives us a bit of a lift.”