By Darren Steinke /
At times, it almost seemed pre-destined that Wacey Hamilton would one day be the captain of the Medicine Hat Tigers.
When this Cochrane-product arrived in Medicine Hat as a 17-year-old rookie in the fall of 2007, he started to draw comparisons to fiery right-winger Derek Dorsett, who now plays for the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. As the next two campaigns progressed, it became obvious he was gaining more and more respect in the team’s dressing room.
Before the start of the current campaign, Hamilton was awarded the captain’s role.
“It was a pretty cool honour,” said Hamilton. “It definitely comes with a lot of responsibilities.
“I knew in the summer that I would be a bigger part of the leadership group than last year. When they named me captain, it was pretty cool.”
Since Willie Desjardins became the Tigers head coach in the summer of 2002 and later the team’s general manager, the club has always had a long line of good on ice leaders. The strong captains included the likes Steve Marr, Kris Russell and Brennan Bosch. Their leadership was usually supported by influential assistant captains like Dorsett.
In his first two campaigns with the Tigers, Hamilton said he learned lessons from his previous captains in Bosch, Jordan Bendfeld and Daine Todd, which he uses in the present.
“I think from Boschy, he sort of taught me that you don’t need to be a big guy in this league to be an impact player,” said Hamilton, who stands 5-11 and weighs 177 pounds. “His whole career, he battled fearlessly every night. He is a smaller guy himself.
“I think he showed me that you have to be a real consistent player to sort of earn the respect of the players in the room.
“Todder was more of a quiet guy that just sort of led by example on the ice. Benny did more of the talking in the room.”
From the three, Hamilton learned another important lesson.
“I learned that you have to be patient with some guys and sort of get to know them and just try to be respectful, but at the same time demand nothing but the best,” said Hamilton, who has 14 goals, 38 assists and a plus-19 rating in 45 games this season.
Desjardins believes Hamilton has taken the captain’s role and run with it well this season.
“I think he is a real good captain,” said Desjardins. “I think he plays hard every night, leads by example.
“I think your leaders and your coaches have to be on the same page. We’ve been fortunate this year, where our leaders they have had some real good ideas too that we have implemented as coaches.”
The bench boss said Hamilton has been great in letting the coaches know what the feeling is like on the team in order to prepare the club for various upcoming games.
As the team closes in on the playoffs, Hamilton believes his club can make a long run. He also admits he like the comparisons to Dorsett, who was a key part in the Tigers 2007 WHL championship team.
“Any guy that is as passionate as he was and played as hard as he did, I really respect,” said Hamilton. “I just try model my game after that for sure.” |