September 3, 2008

Hamilton Signs with Calder Cup Champions

The Chicago Wolves have signed former Yale standout Jeff Hamilton, the team announced on Wednesday.

The 30-year-old forward notched 15 assists and 24 points in 58 National Hockey League games with the Carolina Hurricanes last season, his seventh as a pro. He also appeared in nine outings with the American Hockey League's Albany River Rats, collecting three goals and nine points.

The Englewood, Ohio, native, spent the 2006-07 season with the Chicago Blackhawks, racking up NHL career highs with 18 goals, 21 assists and 39 points in a career-best 70 games. Overall, he has tallied 29 goals, 42 assists and 71 points in 142 career NHL games, spanning four seasons with the New York Islanders (2003-04, 2005-06), Blackhawks and Hurricanes.

Hamilton captured the Willie Marshall Award as the AHL's top goal scorer in 2003-04 after leading the league with a career-high 43 markers in just 67 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. He also paced Bridgeport and shared ninth in the league with a career-best 68 points, played in the 2004 AHL All-Star Classic and was voted to the AHL's First All-Star Team that season.

The Yale University graduate has tallied 115 goals, 101 assists and 216 points in 242 career AHL games in parts of five seasons with the Sound Tigers (2002-04, 2005-06), Hartford Wolf Pack (2004-05) and River Rats (2007-08), which includes breaking the 20-goal mark four times. He has also skated in 22 career Calder Cup Playoff tilts, accruing 11 goals and 17 points.

Prior to turning pro, Hamilton potted 80 goals, 94 assists and 174 points in 127 games with Yale from 1996 to 2001, which includes leading the Bulldogs in scoring in three of his four full seasons, despite missing the majority of the 1999-00 campaign due to injury.

In accordance with team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.