Dan Hamhuis announces his retirement.
https://www.nhl.com/news/dan-hamhuis-re ... -318465252
The most recent memory of Hamhuis as a Canuck is the fact that he was a Canuck until the end of his contract. His no trade clause in the spring of 2016 made a trade impossible without his okay and his iffy health in at the time softened (or eliminated) the market even if he would have been good to go. The Canucks ought to have known this was a player who would control where he went; if memory serves, he was dealt not once but twice after the 2010 season with his contract expiring with teams thinking the right to negotiate early with Hamhuis was worth more than the mid-to-late round picks they were sacrificing. But I am sure that at the time Hamhuis only wanted to sign with one team, if it was on the table -- the Vancouver Canucks -- a return to home to play with a team poised to make a Stanley Cup run. And its why he negotiated that NTC to begin with.
The 2016 trade deadline wasn't the only time injury impacted Hamhuis' time as a Canuck. His sweet (though penalized) hip check in game 1 of the SCT finals led to injury, finished his season and was a major contributor to the Canucks ultimate loss. A blue line lacking Hamhuis, soon Rome, the Keith Ballard who was traded for (the version we were sent I am sure is not the same man), and featuring a one-armed Ehrhoff wasn't a Stanley Cup caliber blue line, with all do respect to fresh-out-of-college never-played-a-regular-season-game Christopher Tanev and Andrew Alberts, who served the Canucks well as a pylon in practice and the Bruins well as a pylon in games 2-7.... What could have been if Hamhuis were healthy might just be the second most common thought about Dan Hamhuis.
But beyond those moments, there were seasons. Six as a Canuck; 3 highly effective in my view and 3 not too bad. In his first two seasons Hammer was a +58, and his addition with Ehrhoff and the coming of age of Alex Edler gave the Canucks a deep set of steady two way defensemen -- Hammer a defensively responsible player who could move the puck and skate pretty well; Ehrhoff the offensive weapon whose defensive play was more than passable; and Edler who was an even mix of offensive and defensive acumen. While most of us like Willie Mitchell, Hamhuis taking Mitchell's minutes is what vaulted the team to another level -- a group as skilled up front at the early 2010s Canucks needed blue liners who could make tape to tape passes and who were skilled enough not to have puck-off-the-glass as option #1. Hamhuis helped make this a team that could run and gun as well as cycle.
Dan Hamhuis helped take the team to another level and while his play declined towards the end of his time in Vancouver, he was far from the cause of the wreck. Indeed, his steady play might have masked some of the structural fissures. He's not a ring of honor worthy, I suppose, but he is worthy of our respect. Good luck, Dan.
