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Former Eagles and Vipers goaltender Hammond traded to New Jersey Devils

Brian Wiebe

Former Surrey Eagles and Vernon Vipers goaltender Andrew Hammond was traded at the National Hockey League trade deadline on Monday from the Montreal Canadiens to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Nate Schnarr.

Hammond, a 34-year-old from White Rock, BC, has played four games for the Canadiens this season, compiling a 3-0 record with a 2.40 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.

He also got into 11 games with the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild, going 6-2-4 with three shutouts, a .908 save percentage, and a 2.44 goals-against average.

Hammond actually made his BC Hockey League debut in 2006-07 as an 18-year-old affiliate player for the Westside Warriors. He played one game for the Warriors, giving up four goals on 11 shots, and was tagged with a 9-2 loss to Salmon Arm in September 2006.

As a 19-year-old rookie, Hammond started the 2007-08 season with Surrey, posting a 13-11-0 record and a 3.60 goals-against average in 30 games before being traded to Vernon on Jan. 9, 2008.

In his final BCHL season before heading to Bowling Green State University, Hammond was a solid 28-12-0 with a 2.28 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. His six shutouts in 2008-09 are tied for the second-most all-time in a single season and earned him the BCHL Top Goaltender award.

Hammond played 119 games at Bowling Green over four seasons. He turned pro in 2013-14 and played 60 NHL games over the next nine seasons with Ottawa, Colorado, and Montreal. He also spent time with Buffalo and Minnesota but didn’t get into any games.

There are also 176 AHL games with four different franchises on Hammond’s resume. He’s on an expiring contract that pays him $750,000 and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Brian Wiebe

Brian's been involved in the BCHL in a variety of capacities for 17 years. From 2002 to 2012, he served in several roles around the Merritt Centennials organization, including as team president, board member, beat writer, colour commentator, webmaster, media and communications coordinator and marketing assistant. He's been writing about the BCHL since 2008 and served as colour commentator on the TSN 1040 broadcasts in 2012-13. BCHLNetwork is one of Brian's many passion projects that he balances around his full-time job as an instructor in the Radio Arts and Entertainment Program at BCIT in Burnaby.