Semiahmoo Peninsula goaltender Andrew Hammond was honoured by the American Hockey League earlier this month.
The 31-year-old Earl Marriott Secondary grad – who was briefly a member of the Surrey Eagles during his tenure in the BC Hockey League, which also included two seasons in Vernon – was named the AHL’s player of the week for the period ending April 14.
In a three-game stretch that week, Hammond, who plays for the Iowa Wild,stopped 86 of 90 shots he faced, and won all three games while posting a save-percentage of .956 and a goals-against average of 1.30. His performance helped the Wild secure the franchise’s first-ever berth in the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs.
The Wild currently have a 1-0 lead over the Milwaukee Admirals in their best-of-five first-round series.
Before joining the Wild – the minor-league affiliate of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild – Hammond spend time in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage and the Binghamton Senators, who are the affiliates of the Colorado Avalanche and Ottawa Senators, respectively.
It was with the Senators during the 2014/15 season that Hammond rose to fame, as he was called up from the AHL and promptly reeled off a record of 20-1-2 (win-loss-overtime loss), and led the Sens to a playoff spot.
Nicknamed ‘The Hamburglar’ – the McDonald’s character was painted on his mask – fans that year took to throwing cheeseburgers on the ice after Senator wins.
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