Hammond won't call Senators camp 'competition'

Andrew Hammond said he is not looking at training camp as a competition with Craig Anderson to be the No. 1 goalie for the Ottawa Senators.

"It's not something I'm going to label as [a competition]," Hammond told the Ottawa Sun on Tuesday. "I'm just going to approach the season to be the best goalie that I can be and I want to play as many games as I can. … However many that is, I don't know, but to say there's a competition or anything like that, I wouldn't say that."

Hammond signed a three-year, $4.05 million contract May 20. He was 20-1-2 with a 1.79 goals-against average and .941 save percentage after he was called up from the American Hockey League in February following injuries to Anderson and Robin Lehner (traded to the Buffalo Sabres on June 26).

Anderson was 14-13-8 with a 2.49 GAA and .923 save percentage last season.

Known as "The Hamburglar," Hammond helped the Senators, who were 14 points out of a playoff spot on Feb. 10, earn the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

"Now that it has happened, 'The Hamburglar' thing has kind of stuck, and I'm OK with that," Hammond said. "It wasn't something that I wanted to have side by side with me as I played hockey. It is what it is. It's fun being able to see the way the fans have taken to it, and by no means am I complaining that's kind of attached to me now. It's cool to have that kind of following."

Hammond started the Eastern Conference First Round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens but was replaced by Anderson after losing the first two games. The Senators lost the best-of-7 series 4-2.

"Lots happened," Hammond said. "It's a great thing to be able to look back on, but I think the important thing is to keep looking into the future and what's happening this season. … If anything, the chapter on last season is closed and it's all about rewriting a new one."