Hamilton's hockey heart and hustle

Yale assistant coach C.J. Marottolo still laughs at a story relayed to him by Jeff Hamilton's, SM '01, prep school coach almost six years ago. "They'd lock up the rink at night," Marottolo recalled. "Every morning, the rink staff would discover someone had broken into the rink and left tracks on the ice."

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Jeff Hamilton hopes to follow up his success at Yale in the NHL.

The "intruder" carried on for some time before the coach warned that any player caught in the act would not get to play for the season. "Jeff would climb in through a window, find out where the lights were, and just start playing, shooting the puck around," Marottolo said.

At Yale, Hamilton still had a hard time pulling himself away from the ice. "He always sticks around after practice, taking extra shots and plays," defender Joe Dart, BR '01, explained. "He just doesn't leave." Such dedication is remarkable in any player, but it is especially impressive when one considers that Hamilton could have easily rested on his laurels.

At the end of the 2000-01 season, the official tally of awards during Hamilton's Yale career included ECAC scoring leader during his sophomore year, three-time member of the All-Ivy first team, and Yale's all-time scoring leader. Over spring break, Hamilton set another record, becoming the first Bulldog to receive the Ivy League Player of the Year award twice. He is also the first Bulldog to be a two-time Hobey Baker finalist (given to the 10 best players in college hockey) and three-time member of the All-ECAC first team.

"He's a special player, and not in terms of just the points that he scores," Captain Ben Stafford, BR '01, said. "He's not vocal in the locker room, but people definitely listen to him. Some people skate 100 miles per hour on the ice, but Jeff takes care with the puck, and that's also a form of hustling."

According to Marottolo, Hamilton's string of accomplishments has not taken away his team spirit. "He has a great ability to make the people around him better, and a great sense of where the puck and his teammates are," Marottolo said. "After his freshman year, he became our go-to guy. He's been a big part of Yale hockey since he stepped on campus." Defender David Sproule, SM '02, agreed. "He instills confidence in the players; he is someone to trust, to feel confident about giving the puck to," he said.

Dart added that whenever a freshman scores his first goal, Hamilton makes it a point to pick up the puck himself or to have the referee pick it up so that the team's equipment manager can commemorate the moment. As serious as he is on the ice, Hamilton will also be remembered for the good-natured humor he brought to those who worked closely with him. "He's a joker, a fun guy to hang around in the locker room," Sproule said.

On road trips, Hamilton has been known to hide a rookie's jersey, and after practice, he likes to fill up a Gatorade bucket with ice water to dump on an unsuspecting teammate in the shower. "It's all good fun," Sproule explained. "We all help him out and participate in it." His antics are not just confined to his teammates. Marottolo recounted numerous stories, including how Hamilton liked to fire shots at his skates during warm-up in practice, and finally hit his ankles when his timing was just right. "I told him I've got to wear ankle guards now," Marottolo said. John Gardner, Hamilton's high school coach at Avon Old Farms, added, "Jeff is a prankster and fun to be around. He could drive someone nuts if you take him too seriously."

In spite of his numerous accomplishments, Hamilton's NHL prospects are not guaranteed, given his small frame (5'10", 180 lbs.). Marottolo confirmed that Hamilton is working with an advisor to explore different options. He also felt confident that Hamilton would wind up playing professional hockey. "He has an unbelievable NHL-caliber shot," Marottolo said of Hamilton's vaunted rocket shot, which could be his key into the NHL. "He can shoot a puck like no one I've ever seen in college hockey—that sets him apart from everybody."

Stafford, who himself was selected by the United Hockey League to play for the New Haven Knights, is confident that Hamilton will be playing some form of hockey after graduation. "He's got hockey in his heart," Stafford said. "He's not going to be happy unless he's on the ice."

And Hamilton has had experience proving his doubters wrong. Even though he was an All-New England player with offers from such schools as Yale, Harvard, Rensselaer, and Vermont, his high school coach wasn't sure how far he would go.

"To be honest," Gardner admits now, "I never thought Jeff would be such a great player coming out of Avon. I thought his lack of size would hurt, and he was not extremely strong." Gardner even remembers a talk he had with Hamilton at the end of his junior year, when he counseled Hamilton "that he was a borderline Division I hockey player and had better get going if he wanted to play at that level."

His former coach added quickly, "I guess he showed that to be a false statement with his great career at Yale. Fortunately, [Head] Coach [Tim] Taylor and Coach Marottolo saw that ability and passion in his play and recruited him."

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