Hamilton brothers have fond WJC memories

Out shopping at Market Mall the other day, Dougie Hamilton experienced a World Junior flashback.
"I walked into the Toys R Us,'' he's recalling, "and realized it was the same store where we'd done this pre-tournament gift-collecting event for kids back in 2011.
"I remember we all ran down the aisles and tried to fill our carts as best we could in a couple of minutes.
"You get that picture in your head, you know, like, 'I've been here before …' I wished I'd been doing that the other day, too. So much fun.
"I have so many great memories of that whole experience."

To the delight of the nation, the World Junior Hockey Championship kicks off today.
Canada opens its bid, as usual, in a mouth-watering match-up against the Russians at Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Back in 2010-2012, of course, the entire shebang was staged in Alberta.
"It was just a totally different experience being in Canada than when I played again, in Russia, the next year,'' Hamilton says, peeling off equipment in the Calgary Flames' inner sanctum. "It seemed so much bigger here, with all the Canadian hype and stuff.
"More pressure, too? Maybe. But I thought it was great. You go from playing in junior to having everybody watching you on TSN every day. You're walking around in all your Canada gear, being recognized, feeling so good about yourself.
"They're pretty lucky to be playing it in Toronto and Montreal this time.
"We had training camp in Banff, then went to Edmonton and came here, to Calgary. I still remember doing media in the hallway outside here, so many things that were different to us.
"Everything was on a bigger scale. It was all new. Fun, exciting."
That , when the Hamilton boys, Dougie - already a ninth-overall pick by Boston out of the OHL Niagara Ice Dogs - and brother Freddie - a Niagara teammate selected in 2010 by the San Jose Sharks - became Canada's first World Juniors sibling act since Randy and Mike Moeller way back in 1982.
"That was definitely our goal that season, to both make the team,'' says Dougie Hamilton, who now sits a few stalls down from Freddie in the Flames' room. "I can still remember the day, the time, that we'd made it.
"I'll never forget that."

Freddie Hamilton, either.
"Appreciate every second you can,'' he says. "It is tough. There is a lot of pressure. Playing for Canada, you're supposed to win. Especially playing at home, the way we were back then and this team is now.
"But I wouldn't have traded it for anything, being in Canada. The Saddledome and Rexall Place were louder than for NHL games.
"We maybe didn't realize how much attention people were paying. We didn't turn on the TV too much. You're more focusing on the games. But now, watching it now, you realize how big it is.
"But it goes by way too fast."
Over the years, the build-up to Boxing Day has continued to mushroom.
"There's so much anticipation heading into that first game,'' says Dougie Hamilton. "When it arrived, I remember it being so much fun."
Small wonder.

Boxing Day 2011, Team Canada flayed the unfortunate Finns 8-1 up north in front of 15,000-plus at Rexall Place. Dougie Hamilton chipped in with a goal and an assist, brother Freddie registered a helper.
The Canadians sailed through the round-robin, going 4-0 and outscoring the opposition 26-5 and earning a pass into the semi-finals.
The game staged Jan. 3rd, 2012 at the Scotiabank Saddledome is not easily forgotten.
The rival Russians ran out to a seemingly-unyielding 6-1 third-period lead against Canada but a Dougie Hamilton goal at 7:54 ignited a furious rally that fell a whisker short, 6-5.
Coach Don Hay's bunch regrouped and collected bronze by skinning Finland again, 4-0 at the Saddledome.
But the ending still seemed hollow.
"The only thing that still kinda eats at you is that we didn't win,'' murmurs Dougie Hamilton. "You look back on the opportunity we had, think of how amazing it would've been get the gold, here in Canada.
"You just kind of say to yourself: 'I wish …'
"We got that bye game and came out flat in the semi-final and that was it. There's no bye game now and I think that would've helped us back then.
"But that's then and this is now, I guess."
Any advice, then, to the anxious, curious, can't-wait-to-get-at-it class of 2017 from a decorated alumnus who understands the uniqueness of their situation and its inherent expectations?
"Enjoy the whole process,'' replies Dougie Hamilton. "The camp, the exhibition games, the practices. Everything. Because the tournament goes by pretty quick. You get in the moment, start playing and suddenly it's over.
"You've just got to take it all in. The crowds, so loud. The atmosphere. Being here at home. Even the distractions. All of it.
"Those guys have all played enough high-level hockey that it won't be too overwhelming.
"So I guess I'd just tell them: Enjoy it. No matter who you are, or what you go on to do, this tournament will be one of the best moments in your hockey career, for sure."