Peter Hamerlik - ECHL Hockey - On MLN SportsZone.com - A Minor League Sports News Magazine

Hamerlik's Mulligan
Offsetting his poor early season performance, Peter Hamerlik's fresh start with Reading initially helped (though later hurt) the Royals' ECHL playoff chances.

Dan Hickling
MinorLeagueNews.com

04.15.04 - Reading, Pa. -- Goaltender Peter Hamerlik is Slovakian, but the term that best describes what he needed most this year is Irish.

It's called a mulligan; perhaps you can relate. After all, everyone needs a "do over".

Hamerlik, a Boston Bruin farmhand, certainly needed one after getting off to a miserable start with the ECHL's Augusta Lynx, where he was dispatched after training camp.

Peter soon left Augusta and was sent to play with the Reading Royals. Thankfully, Hamerlik's Mulligan was a cannon shot off the tee and hit straight down the fairway. While he was tending nets for the Royals, Hamerlik was nothing short of sensational.

He went a torrid 6-1-1 in his first eight appearances with the Royals, racking up a 1.91 goals against mark, and a .938 save percentage.

Tucked away in there was the ECHL's Goalie of the Week Award for Feb 9-15, a week in which he was a perfect 4-0-0, then went on to rack up the league's Goalie of the Month honors.

It was enough to keep the Royals in the thick of the ECHL's Eastern Conference playoff chase.

"He was the right guy at the right time for us," said Reading Royals Head Coach Derek Clancey.

Still, it was all a stunning contrast to what Hamerlik went through --or some might say, put himself through—earlier in the season with Augusta.

His 1-5 record and the barrage of pucks flying past him was miserable enough, but feeling as though he didn't fit in made it worse.

Being fifth on the Bruins depth chart was a kick in the head. As was the cold shoulder shown him by the Lynx, who questioned his work habits.

It's not something he likes to talk about.

"I had a hard time at the start of the year in Augusta," Hamerlik said. "I don't know. I just couldn't (get rolling)."

Goaltending has been something of a chronic problem area for Boston in recent years, so they've been drafting them in hordes.

In the past three Entry Drafts, six of the Bruins picks were devoted to shore up the position.

Hamerlik was tabbed in Round 5 of the 2002 draft, following two creditable campaigns with Kingston (Ontario Hockey League).

After finishing up with the Frontenacs last year, Hamerlik got a taste of the pro game when the Bruins assigned him to Cincinnati for the ECHL playoffs.

This year, he had hoped to get a shot with Providence, but with Hannu Toivonen --Boston's top choice in 2002-- and veteran Tim Thomas slotted ahead of him, "The Hammer" found himself back in the "E-League" and down in the dumps.

Good fortune, or maybe it was Santa Claus, intervened around Christmas time though and gave Peter a gift of ice time in the AHL.

Toivonen left the P-Bruins for two weeks to play for Finland in the World Junior tournament, so Hamerlik was called up to back up Thomas.

Before long, Thomas was ejected in a game at Portland and subsequently suspended for the next two.

Hamerlik was thrust into the breach, and recorded one win, one tie, and one loss, with a 1.91 goals against average [GAA]. It was only three games, but it was just enough to get Hamerlik's head straightened out.

"I got the chance to play," he said. "Whenever you get the chance, you've got to perform your best. I think I did really well. It helped me out mentally. I had been down on myself. But now I've proved to myself, and everybody else that I can play really good hockey."

"I guess it's like life," said Clancey. "Guys need a little confidence, and when you get a little confidence, you play a lot better."

Of course, as often happens to ECHL players on NHL contracts, his big league employers again reassigned Hamerlik.

The Boston Bruins sent Hamerlik to the Trenton Titans on March 12 and he immediately began to lend a hand with two wins over the Dayton Bombers.

"Peter came up huge for us," said Trenton broadcaster Mike O'Brien. "He got us some big wins when we needed them."

Hamerlik soon found himself back in Reading, this time as an "enemy combatant".

As the Titans faced postseason elimination and two "must win" games against the division rival Royals, Hamerlik again rose to the occasion, earning both victories including a shutout.

"He had two big wins not only against his former team, but the team we were chasing for the final spot in the playoffs," said O'Brien. "He was a big reason the Titans were able to get back into the playoff race."

Editor's note: Reading edged out Trenton by 3 points for the Eastern Conference's final playoff position.