Former Fan Favorite Dan Hamhuis Shows True Colours Towards the Vancouver Canucks Organization
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Photo credit: NoVa Caps
Former Vancouver Canucks fan favorite defenseman Dan Hamhuis has revealed his true colours about the event that led to the departure from the team he wanted to retire with.
Now 42-year-old and retired, the Smithers, it was announced that the Smithers, British Columbia native will be given a major honor and inducted into the B.C.
Hockey Hall-of-Fame at the end of the year.
Hockey Hall-of-Fame at the end of the year.
Over 16 seasons as a elite stay at home defenseman, Hamhuis won the Olympic gold with Team Canada at the 2014 Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics and has 6world championship appearances to add to his resume.
After 6 seasons with the Nashville Predators, Hamhuis joined the Canucks at the start of the 2010-2011 season, marking a dream come true to play for his hometown team.
Dan Hamhuis reveals true colors towards the Vancouver Canucks
It was clear that during his tenure with the Canucks, he was still a highly effective defender that ate up ice-time, but general manager Jim Benning did not feel keeping him was the right direction for the team.
«we were going to go with a younger group on the back end and we told him that.» - Benning
With his recent comments, Hamhuis made it abundantly clear that he wanted to remain a Canucks until he tried from the NHL and felt a bit blindsided and upset that they did not want him anymore.
«I wanted to stay. I made that well known to our management at the time, and unfortunately they didn't want to make that happen and wanted to go in different directions,» Hamhuis says. «It's kind of too bad. I felt like I was bleeding blue, and that wearing that jersey and everything it represented meant a lot to me. It was kind of sad that it didn't work out any longer.
«In a way, I guess I was a bit surprised. I felt like I had proven myself as a 'you-know-what-you're-going-to-get' steady player and a good guy in the room and community. Sometimes there are biases for the 'Grass is greener.' But I think when you have something that's good and what you know, it's kind of hard to understand.»
«In a way, I guess I was a bit surprised. I felt like I had proven myself as a 'you-know-what-you're-going-to-get' steady player and a good guy in the room and community. Sometimes there are biases for the 'Grass is greener.' But I think when you have something that's good and what you know, it's kind of hard to understand.»
Regardless, Hamhuis has one heck of a career, finishing 8th all-time in games played by a B.C.-born player, just before former Canuck Cliff Ronning and his 1,137. Mark Recchi leads the list at 1,652.
With the state of the team and the rumors that players like Demko, Miller and Pettersson aren't completely buying in to the system, it is always hard to hear a loved player like Hamhuis wanted to bleed for the team but the organization had other intentions.
While it is understood that the NHL is a business, it makes you wonder how much loyalty actually matters to organizations, especially when a player is as capable and effective as Hamhuis.
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