"Camp was such go, go, go every day, and trying to make the team," Hamilton said. "Then it felt weird not playing after that. The coaches were really positive with me, trying to keep me ready. It's such a long season. So much can happy. There's still 70-something games left.
"That's a ton of games.
"You've just got to stay positive."
The review, which included a plus-1 rating, two hits and a couple of faceoff wins, was positive.
Off the scoresheet is what impressed the most, suggested Flames coach Glen Gulutzan.
"Freddie played really solid yesterday," Gulutzan said. "He did some good things. He was physical. The one thing I didn't like in last night's game was how much crap Johnny (Gaudreau) took. It was like a home game for the other team. I thought Freddie responded to a couple of those things.
"He was in the fabric of the game as far as he knew, he was aware of what was going on out there. He played very simple. That's what we need him to do.
"He gives it his all. He's a good pro. He's spent three, four years in the minors. He wants to stay and he's doing all the right things. You can see it. He came in last night and did everything he could with the time he was given.
"He's going to work himself, hopefully, into a penalty kill role. I liked his game. He was dependable. When he goes out there and you know the guy's dependable it's a good place for a coach."
Dependable is what earned Hamilton a two-year, one-way contract to little fanfare in September.
