Don Hamilton (lacrosse)

Donald "Mr. Nice Guy" Brian Rickerby Hamilton[1] (born February 18, 1937) is a Canadian retired professional and amateur box lacrosse goaltender and a professional ice hockey goaltender. Hamilton was considered an elite goaltender in his time and is a member of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.[2] He is remembered as the only goaltender to have completed a shutout in a Mann Cup national championship game.[3]

Don "Mr. Nice Guy" Hamilton
Born (1937-02-18) February 18, 1937 (age 87)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
PositionGoaltender
WLA/
NLA team
Victoria Shamrocks (ICLL)
Vancouver Burrards (WLA)
Vancouver Burrards (NLA)
Pro career1956–1976
NicknameHammy Hambone
Career highlights

Mann Cup: 1961, 1975, 1977 (GM)
Nicholson Trophy: 1969, 1970, 1971

Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame, 1990

Career

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Hamilton became a goaltender at the age of 12 because of an asthma condition.[1] Hamilton joined the Western Lacrosse Association's Victoria Shamrocks in 1956 as a fill-in for injured starter Geordie Johnston. He would back-up Johnston for the next two seasons while leading his Jr. Shamrocks team to two consecutive Minto Cup finals.[1] From 1955 until 1958, Hamilton tended goal in the Western Hockey League for the Seattle Americans and the Victoria Cougars.[4]

In 1960, Hamilton moved to Vancouver and joined the Vancouver Burrards. On September 23, 1961, Hamilton would become the first and only goaltender during the box lacrosse era to record a shutout in Mann Cup play, blanking the Brampton Ramblers 13-0.[1][3] In 1962, at the height of his career, Hamilton was forced to step away from lacrosse when work forced him to move to Kamloops, British Columbia. While there, he founded their Senior B team and their minor lacrosse association while acting as its first president.[1] In 1968, Hamilton rejoined the Burrards and turned professional with the National Lacrosse Association. This lasted for two seasons.[5]

Don Hamilton retired from lacrosse with the Burrards in 1976 after winning two Mann Cups in three attempts during his career. Hamilton returned as general manager in 1977, and won another Mann Cup.[1] Hamilton was the Western Manager of Team Canada at the World Lacrosse Championships in 1982.[6]

Honours

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Hamilton was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 1990.[2][7]

Statistics

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Source: Wamper's Bible of Lacrosse[8] and Stan Shillington's "Who's Who in Lacrosse 1933-2013: Goaltending Records".[9]

Season Team League GP G A P PIM Sv% Team GAA
1956 Victoria ICLL 20 0 3 3 0 0.726 11.13
1957 Victoria ICLL 5 0 1 1 0 0.729 9.83
1958 Victoria ICLL 5 0 0 0 0 0.724 10.10
1959 Victoria ICLL 6 0 0 0 0 0.699 13.27
- Victoria P/O 1 0 0 0 0 0.625 -
1960 Vancouver ICLL 12 0 1 1 0 0.700 8.27
- Vancouver P/O 2 0 0 0 0 0.706 -
1961 Vancouver ICLL 27 0 2 2 0 0.743 8.53
- Vancouver P/O 6 0 0 0 0 0.815 -
1962 Vancouver ICLL 1 0 0 0 0 0.718 6.94
1963-67 Played Senior B
1968 Vancouver NLA 17 0 11 11 0 0.746 10.24
- Vancouver P/O 7 0 4 4 0 0.800 -
1969 Vancouver NLA 29 0 25 25 0 0.769 12.72
- Vancouver P/O 4 0 11 11 0 0.738 -
1970 Vancouver WLA 29 0 45 45 2 0.764 11.77
- Vancouver P/O 4 0 4 4 5 0.744 -
1971 Vancouver WLA 27 0 22 22 0 0.735 12.77
- Vancouver P/O 3 0 0 0 0 0.724 -
1972 Vancouver WLA 20 0 25 25 0 0.756 11.19
- Vancouver P/O 5 0 3 3 0 0.753 -
1973 Vancouver WLA 24 0 11 11 0 0.759 11.28
- Vancouver P/O 5 0 2 2 0 0.738 -
1974 Vancouver WLA 20 0 13 13 2 0.776 12.13
- Vancouver P/O 8 0 9 9 0 0.764 -
1975 Vancouver WLA 23 0 8 8 0 0.754 12.83
- Vancouver P/O 10 1 4 5 0 0.773 -
1976 Vancouver WLA 5 0 4 4 0 0.713 13.71
- Vancouver P/O 4 0 0 0 0 0.659 -

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f British Columbia Lacrosse Association
  2. ^ a b By Year Archived 2014-02-19 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b Central Desktop
  4. ^ Don Hamilton hockey statistics and profile at hockeydb.com
  5. ^ http://wampsbibleoflacrosse.com/newstats/1968nllproWEST.txt [bare URL plain text file]
  6. ^ "British Columbia Lacrosse Association". Bclaregistration.com. 1961-09-23. Retrieved 2014-02-08.
  7. ^ Canadian Lacrosse
  8. ^ Bible of Lacrosse - statistics
  9. ^ Stan Shillington's "Who's Who in Lacrosse" by Stan Shillington Western Lacrosse Association. 2013.