The Detroit Red Wings by their own admission have not been hard to play against and need a tougher, more physical, gritty temperament.<\/p>\n
Travis Hamonic hopes to bring a little of that element to their defense much like he has during his 15-year NHL career with the New York Islanders, Calgary, Vancouver and Ottawa.<\/p>\n
\u201cBring some physicality on the back end, be solid on the penalty kill, blocking shots, doing some of those not-so-pretty jobs sometimes, some of the jobs that hurt,\u201d Hamonic said. \u201cBut when you got to block a shot, it\u2019s your turn to take a hit to make a play, maybe not a flashy play, but just a smart play that\u2019s going to benefit the team in that moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Red Wings signed Hamonic, 35, to a one-year, $1 million contract on Aug. 15<\/a> after he spent the past 3\u00bd seasons with the Senators. He\u2019s part of a crowded blue line featuring eight NHL D-men.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be competitive and I\u2019m there to push and earn my ice time,\u201d Hamonic said. \u201cI know what\u2019s expected of me and what I have to do to get in the lineup and stay in the lineup. I think when you have that competitiveness mixed in with that cohesiveness as a defensive unit, that\u2019s when you get the best out of everybody and you are going to need everybody throughout the course of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamonic might be competing for a spot in the lineup with fellow right-shooters Justin Holl and Jacob Bernard-Docker, his teammate in Ottawa who the Red Wings signed on July 1 for one year.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s become a really good friend of mine,\u201d Hamonic said. \u201cHe\u2019s got some sneaky skill, he plays hard. He\u2019s not the biggest guy, but he\u2019s very competitive, he moves well, and he\u2019s someone that can make solid plays when he\u2019s feeling confident, in the rush.\u201d<\/p>\n Hamonic played 59 games last season, missing time late in the year due to a lower-body injury and as a healthy scratch. He was part of an Ottawa team that ended a seven-year playoff drought and hopes to do the same in Detroit, which has been out of the postseason for nine years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to get in, we want to make some noise and take that next step,\u201d Hamonic said. \u201cI\u2019m ready to do what I have to do to be a good teammate and contribute. I still believe I have some good hockey in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n This is the first time he\u2019s had to wait this long to find a team, but he\u2019s excited for the opportunity. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one of those cities and one of those organizations where you come in and it\u2019s a \u2018wow\u2019 factor every single time,\u201d Hamonic said. \u201cWhether it was early on in my career at Joe Louis or now at Little Caesars, to be part of an Original Six is something I think every player wants to have the chance. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you mix that in with the team and where they\u2019re at \u2026 as an opposing player, it was always a hard game against Detroit. The speed, the skill up front, some really good, young, skilled defensemen. It made it a very desirable place for me.\u201d<\/p>\n If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement<\/a> and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and\/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Red Wings by their own admission have not been hard to play against and need a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":112290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-112289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}