Until last night’s performance, for most people the name “The Hamburglar” was still accredited to the villainous cartoon character that was last seen on television playing tricks on his counterparts, Grimace, Birdie and Ronald McDonald sometime in the 90s. However, for anyone who follows the NHL Playoffs, they now know full well that there is a new Hamburglar in town. But unlike his capped counterpart, this Hamburglar does not steal burgers, but hockey games. Andrew “Hamburglar” Hammond, the Avalanche’s third-string goalie, without a doubt stole Friday’s game, and has given the Avs life for another game.
Andrew Hammond was acquired from the Ottawa Senators as part of the Matt Duchene trade back in early November. Hammond only started in one game of the regular season for the Avs, where the Avs fell to the Flyers 2-1. With both Semyon Varlamov and Jonathan Bernier out due to injuries, Hammond was the goaltender who would have to face the Nashville Predators on their home ice, an arena where the Predators only lost twice in last year’s playoff run. While it wouldn’t be Hammond’s first NHL playoff game, he previously started in two games as a Senator in 2015, but he was however winless in those two contests. A goaltender who has gone untested for much of the season, let alone a playoff win under his belt was to face off against a team who made it to the Stanley Cup Finals the year before, in front of their home raucous southern, catfish hurling fans in a potential elimination game. Talk about work pressure!
Despite the weight of the season relying him, Andrew Hammond saved 44 of the 45 shots he faced on Friday night, and extended the Avs’ season to a Game 6. The Predators may have been hoping Hammond would cave under the pressure, however, anyone who has followed Hammond’s career, shouldn’t have been surprised by the return of the Hamburglar.
It was Hammond’s teammates at Bowling Green State University who first began calling him the “Robber”, the “Burglar” and eventually evolved into the inevitable “Hamburglar”. There, the Hamburglar stole a number of wins, and was named the team’s MVP for both the 2011 and 2012 season.
In 2013 Hammond signed with the Senators, and finally got his first NHL start on February 18, 2015. In that game he also got his first career win, making 42 saves and leading the Senators to a 4-2 win over Montreal. Hammond would go on to finish the season with a historic record of 20-1-2, and helped lead the Senators into the playoffs. After falling short in his two playoff attempts, Hammond went relatively unnoticed for the next few seasons. That is until the thirty year old, British Columbian native, the Hamburglar, came out of retirement for Friday night’s game.
Not only were the Avs facing elimination in Game 5, but they also found themselves down 1-0 with just over nine minutes remaining in the third. Rather than sit back and let the season come to a close, the Avalanche continued to fight, and it would be P.K. Subban who would be the one lying on the ice after MacKinnon outmaneuvered him on a play that lead to Landeskog’s game-tying goal. With a minute and thirty seconds left in the game, and most of us getting ready to pour the coffee in preparation for what could potentially be a long overtime game, the Avs had a different plan. A two-on-one break was enough to set up Sven Andrighetto to get passed Rinne, and put the Avs up 2-1. That Avs would hold onto the lead for the reminder of the game, and forcing a Game 6 at Pepsi Center. It doesn’t get much more exciting than that, unless you are a Nashville fan, of course.
The Avs will still be facing elimination on Sunday, but with the confidence that the Avalanche have thanks to players like the Hamburglar and Natty Mac, we can be certain that we will be back in Nashville for one more final contest. Until then, let’s show the Music City that Colorado knows how to do playoff hockey, and it doesn’t have to involve any underwater specimen. Well, it might have to involve a few hamburgers.