Hometown Boy Hamblin Cracks Oilers Lineup With Sweat Equity

walterpalladNovember 29, 2022

Southside Athletic Club Bantam AAA Lions product James Hamblin (left) making his way into the NHL.Hamblin, pictured here during preseason, made his regular season debut for the Oilers last night against the Panthers. Elaine Thompson/AP Photo

Every child has a story to tell. An early morning ride to the rink with his parents, a double-double at Tim Hortons and an egg muffin at McDonald’s before a certain path to get to “The Show” for his first NHL game.

James Hamblin’s journey is certainly one with his father, Tim, a longtime physics teacher at Leduc Composite, and his late mother, Gina, who worked at Suncor before being taken away from pancreatic cancer in 2017 at the age of 52. , are the chapters and verses of the road.

They were all in this vehicle together.

And now Hamblin, an undrafted NHLer who played with Tyler Benson and Stuart Skinner for the same Southside Athletic Club Bantam AAA Lions ten years ago.

Club Bantam AAA Lions Ten years ago, he advanced to the Bigs after playing for coach Taylor Harnett’s powerhouse team that won the Bantam AAA Championship in Western Canada. Hamblin defied the odds and with sweat equity and hockey IQ, Edmonton he joined the Oilers lineup.

A series of jobs required for the 5-foot-9-inch, 176-pound forward who played his first NHL game against the Florida Panthers on Monday.

“I think it was 18 points,” Hamblin said.

For comparison, Benson had 146 points, an Alberta record. Benson (1st overall pick), Skinner (17th overall), and Hamblin (17th) were first-round picks in the WHL Bantam Draft, but Benson (2016 2nd round) and Skinner (2017 3rd round) A pick that was a high-ranking oiler draft. Perhaps because of his size, NHL scouts never warmed to Hamblin and he went through multiple drafts he didn’t want.

But on Monday, he was wearing the No. 57 Euler jersey after making the final cut in training camp. This is his fourth Euler after David Perron, Anton Lander and Colin McDonald. His dad, grandma Am, and girlfriend Paulina were at home in Rogers Place, and mom was probably looking down from heaven and smiling broadly.

“Without my mother, I wouldn’t be here,” said Hamblin, who lost Gina as a teenager. “My dad always said, ‘You should have done this when the game was over,’ but my mom said just have fun. Before the game, she said, ‘Go punch someone.’ said. She kept it light.

“I think about my mom all the time. I don’t think today makes a difference. My mom and dad traded off driving me[to the skating rink].”

Benson, Skinner, and Hamblin, 23, are in the same Euler Room. how crazy is that?

“It’s so cool and so special to look back on those days (Bantam) …and coming to Euler’s organization with Stu and Benny, they helped me a lot. They’re pretty much the same people back then. ‘ said Hamblin. “Three guys in the NHL (Southside team) have to give credit to them.

you are definitely doing the right thing.

“I remember Tyler persevering and being so amazing.
All points at the time. I was diligent, checking forwards on the third line. A more defensive game. Nothing really changed. Easier to get in today (Oilers). No need to change games (from high scoring players).

“As a bantam team, we were very close. There are a lot of players on that team who have played professionally somewhere, if not in the NHL (Defenseman David Quenneville played in Sweden. are available).”

“James, Benny and I have been skating together for a long time,” said Skinner. “We had a really good (Bantam) team. I think he only lost one game (2012 to him 2013). Bad goalkeeper?

must have been. We were playing Sherwood Park and Sammy Steele made us look bad. “

“Then I was drafted here and so was Benny and James signed with Bako. And here we are today … I’m so excited for James,” Skinner said. .

Mill Woods or Bill Hunter Arena was the home rink during the Bantam era. We dined together at his pizza in Boston, and had some post-game fun at teammate Ryan’s Anderson’s house.

Benson, Skinner and Hamblin were inseparable when they were children, attending the Euler Games as a unit of three at Rexall Place.

“My first favorite was Janne Niinimaa, maybe because of the name. I started training in 2010. I had a lot of players that I looked up to,” Hamblin said.
Hamblin, who was a junior at Medicine Hat alongside Skinner, admits sticker shock when he wasn’t drafted in the NHL.

“But that’s not all,” he said. “It was kind of encouraging. It didn’t stop.

“I always called my grandma Amu because I couldn’t say she grew up. We are a German family and that’s the German word for grandma. Amu? She’s a big fan of Euler.” ”

Hamblin also had many coaches who believed in him. Like Jay Woodcroft who brought him to Bakersfield during the pandemic. His path to the NHL may not be typical, but here he is.

“The first time I saw James, I realized he wasn’t the biggest man in the world. I am,” said Woodcroft. “He worked hard and increased his responsibilities on that team. He worked, got an NHL contract and was in camp until the last day.

“It’s a good lesson for young coaches to coach with their eyes, not just their ears when talking about players like James. The two things you have are your eyes and make sure you pay attention to them.