When New Jersey Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton broke into the NHL, he was just 19 years old.
A member of the Boston Bruins, he began his professional hockey career alongside some of the game’s greatest players, including Jaromír Jágr, Zdeno Chára, and Patrice Bergeron.
Since he first jumped over the boards for his first NHL shift at TD Garden, he has played 799 games. His hockey journey has taken him from Boston’s seaport to the mountains near Calgary, back to the East Coast in Raleigh, North Carolina, and eventually to New Jersey.
On Friday, in a Devils uniform, Hamilton will play his 800th career NHL game.
“Pretty crazy,” the defenseman said to The Hockey News. “It is definitely a lot of games (and) it puts stuff into perspective. When you are younger, you maybe don’t think you (can) get that far. It is definitely pretty cool.”
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Sitting at his stall in New Jersey’s locker room, he reflected on what those veteran players used to say during his rookie year in Boston.
“One thing the older guys used to say is when you are a rookie, you got to enjoy it because it goes by really fast, and that is so true,” Hamilton said.
Now Hamilton sits in the Devils locker room as one of the veterans.
One young player who always spoke highly of the defenseman is Dawson Mercer, who previously told The Hockey News that during his rookie season, Hamilton would check in on him to make sure things were okay.
“He was an older guy who came to a new team, and I was a younger guy who came to a new team,” Mercer said on Thursday. “I guess we were in similar situations, but at different times in our career. He is a very well-rounded human being. A good guy who is there for you.”
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From 19-year-old rookie to 31-year-old veteran. Time certainly does fly.
“Being in my 30s now at 800 games is crazy,” Hamilton said. “It feels like yesterday that I was playing those early games. Hopefully, I can play many more.”
The Hockey News asked the 6-foot-6 defenseman if there was one season over his 13-year career where he felt everything came together and clicked for him as a player.
“There are different challenges every year with what your role is and different things,” he began. “My second year in Carolina, I had a really good start, and everything was going really well, and then I got injured. Maybe that season was the first season where it…