Fellow RPI Grad Tony Buffa asked about why Ken Hammond never "made it
in the NHL".  IMHO, he is a little short on NHL talent in the areas of
mobility and speed.  I think that that was the biggest shortcoming of
RPI's 1985 championship team overall.  There were a lot of big
defensemen who could not keep up with fast forwards -- witness all of
the penalties that had to be taken against UMD in the semifinal game
that year.  Of course, watching RPI's penalty-killing units control
things after the penalties was worth it.  I probably would have had
several heart attacks if I had not already known the result when I
watched it on ESPN the day after the game was played.
 
Back to Ken Hammond.  According to a list that Ralph Slate sent me,
Ken has played in the NHL for Los Angeles, the Rangers, Edmonton,
Toronto, Boston, San Jose, and Ottawa.  He also was Vancouver property
but did not play in a regular season game.  Perhaps he also belonged
to someone else.  Does anyone know how close he is to the record for
playing on the most different NHL teams?
 
Ralph Baer
RPI '68, '70, '74
 
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