CALGARY — Dougie Hamilton has been through this before. Micheal Ferland has not.
Hamilton and Ferland will play their first game for the Carolina Hurricanes against their former team, the Calgary Flames, at Scotiabank Saddledown on Tuesday (9 p.m. ET; SNW, FS-SE, NHL.TV). They were traded to Carolina along with defenseman prospect Adam Fox for forward Elias Lindholm and defenseman Noah Hanifin on June 23, 2018.
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“I think a lot of good memories,” said Hamilton, a 25-year-old defenseman who has 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 48 games for the Hurricanes. “A lot of good feelings when you think about it. I lived my childhood dream of playing with my brother (Freddie) in the NHL. I played with a lot of great players, made a lot of good friendships in the dressing room and outside the dressing room with just regular people in the city and hospitals and stuff like that.
“It’s always interesting going back because a lot of interesting stuff comes into your head. It’s going to be cool.”
Ferland, a 26-year-old forward, is fourth in scoring on the Hurricanes with 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in 40 games. He said arriving in Calgary late Sunday, after Carolina’s 7-4 win at the Edmonton Oilers 7-4, prompted a lot of reflection.
Video: CBJ@CAR: Ferland one-times Aho’s feed for PPG
“Driving to the hotel last night, I thought about everything that’s happened,” said Ferland, who played four seasons with the Flames. “I thought about my daughter (Brynlee, 2) being born here and all the memories with her.
“Calgary will always be special to me. So many memories here. I was training here in the summers before I was actually on [the Flames], since I was about 19 years old.”
Playing against a former NHL team is nothing new to Hamilton. He was traded to the Flames by the Boston Bruins for three draft picks June 26, 2015, and played his first game at Boston with Calgary on March 1, 2016.
“I’m older now and I’ve been through some stuff and been through a trade, so it makes it a little easier compared to however old I was the first time back (to Boston),” he said. “I got booed there pretty bad, my first game back.”
The Flames (32-13-5) enter the game in first place in the Western Conference. They are coached by Bill Peters, who held the same position with the Hurricanes the previous four seasons, and have gotten strong production from Lindholm (57 points; 21 goals, 36 assists) and Hanifin (25 points; four goals, 21 assists).
“[The Flames are] doing great, obviously,” Hamilton said. “So it’s going to be a tough game, and I’m looking forward to playing a good game against them.”
Ferland said he’s happy his friends and former teammates on the Flames are winning, and although he wanted to play in Calgary for a long time, he harbors no hard feelings about being traded.
Video: CBJ@CAR: Hamilton roofs wrist shot over Bobrovsky
“Everything happens for a reason,” Ferland said. “I enjoyed my time in Calgary and now I’m enjoying my time in Carolina. There’s no pressure. We have a great group of guys here and we have a young team. It’s been a lot of fun.”
The Hurricanes (23-20-5) are fifth in the Metropolitan Division and seven points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Rod Brind’Amour, who was promoted to replace Peters as Carolina coach May 8 after seven seasons as an assistant, likes what Hamilton and Ferland have brought to the Hurricanes.
“We didn’t have that presence and we’ve been missing that physical presence,” Brind’Amour said of Ferland. “His scoring touch, it was something I didn’t realize that. He’s got nice touch. It’s been a pleasant surprise.
“Dougie … he’s a high-, high-end player that we’ve got to get a little more out of. But he shoots the puck well and we’ve just got to keep getting more and more out of him because he’s a great player. I think there’s another level. I think he could be one of the elite defensemen in this game. It’s why we have to keep pushing. I think highly about both of them.”
The Hurricanes’ position in the Eastern Conference standings has led to some speculation that Hamilton could again be traded, but like he did in the offseason, he will look forward, not back.
“I’ve been in trade rumors for however many years now,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter to me. You play. You can’t control any of that stuff.
“Whenever there’s change, you have to look at the bright side and look forward to something new and be positive about it. … For me, it was the whole summer, so I took time to digest it. Guys who get traded now are right into it.”
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