The Carolina Hurricanes have had a huge season so far and their star defenceman Dougie Hamilton has been playing lights out hockey.
Several nights ago, Dougie Hamilton‘s 11th goal of the season got a lot of attention on Twitter due to the creativity and hilarity of the entire sequence of events. The Carolina Hurricanes won the faceoff after an offside call and the puck went back to Hamilton.
He set up as if he was going to slap the puck around the boards for a dump-in but instead his shot went right through the legs of Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Mikko Koskinen.
When you’re playing well, everything is working and that goal was a prime example of how good Hamilton’s season has been so far. That was his 11th goal and 30th point this season in 31 games played. His red-hot start makes him the second-fastest Cane ever to reach 30 points, with the record holder being Mark Howe who reached that plateau in 28 games played.
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Hamilton is third on the Hurricanes in points and second in goals while also averaging the most ice-time on the team (23:22). Being relied upon to shut down other team’s top lines while also quarterbacking the top power play unit really drives up his time on ice.
What’s not to love about his game? He’s a big puck-moving defenceman and fits exactly into the mold of the Hurricanes’ fluid, possession-oriented game. He blocked some big shots in the game against the Oilers and is the poster boy for the modern-day NHL defenceman. While his time with the Calgary Flames wasn’t as good as he would have liked, seeing him find a new home in Carolina and thrive under Rob Brind’amour’s coaching is very nice to see.
To top his night off, he was sent to the penalty box late in the third period and when he got into an argument with an Oilers fan next to him, he pointed up at the 6-3 scoreboard and ended that poor fan’s career. Hockey is meant to be fun and Dougie Hamilton is living his best life.