While it seems like Andrew Hammond is an overnight sensation after his second-consecutive blanking of an upper-echelon NHL team, in fact his story is many years in the making.
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Hammond used all his Junior A hockey eligibility, culminating in an RBC Cup national championship with the Vernon Vipers in 2009. At age 21, he set off for his freshman season at NCAA Division I Bowling Green. The Falcons program was not necessarily a fashionable one for new recruits at the time and though they improved each season Hammond was there, they never had a winning record in his four years.
As a result, the White Rock, BC product faced a ton of rubber while tending the Falcons' crease and he compiled a college record of 30-68-13 over four seasons. That included an 0-12-2 mark in his freshman campaign. Bowling Green went 44-99-20 during Hammond's time there.
But the Ottawa Senators saw something they liked in the then 25-year-old goalie and signed him to a pro contract in 2013. He played 48 games at AHL Binghamton the next season with one appearance for the Sens. This season, injuries to Ottawa regulars Craig Anderson and Robin Lehner have thrust Hammond into the spotlight and he's been up to the challenge.
Thursday's 1-0 win over Los Angeles where Hammond outdueled two-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Quick was the second shutout in a row for the 27-year-old NHL rookie.
His career NHL numbers are now this: 4 win, 0 losses, 0.965 save percentage, 1.02 goals-against average, two shutouts.
Right now, Hammond's journey is just being called a great story and no one, even in Ottawa, expects Hammond is at the start of a long and storied NHL career. But given what's he's done so far, you can't help but root him to have one.
