Turns out our visit coincides with a webcam chat Hamhuis is having with his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter Anna, while Edler is elsewhere. The screen is grainy and with the Internet connection not the strongest, her voice cuts in and out making it difficult to talk at times. His wife Sarah and 11-month-old daughter Morgan are on the chat as well allowing the Hamhuis family to catch up after a frantic few days for the Canucks.
Surprisingly enough, the topic at hand is hockey and Anna knows her stuff.
“You went to the naughty box last game daddy,” says Anna, alluding to the penalty Hamhuis took for tripping Eric Nystrom a night early in Minnesota.
“Yeah, daddy did sweetie,” he replies.
“But you’re not supposed to hit people,” Anna pokes back, before Sarah jumps in with “daddy will learn one of these days.”
Everyone shares a laugh, including Vinnick and I. It was a heartwarming family moment and the best family time Hamhuis has had during this five-game, 10-day road trip.
This is a great peek into what downtime looks like to players in the NHL when they’re on the road. As the article points out, though we have lofty expectations about how these guys live, life on the road (at least) doesn’t really look much different than regular business travel.