The adjustment took some time. But it was a planned adjustment.
Hameenaho went pointless in the first nine games of the season. Again, that was part of his development. The team wanted him to concentrate on learning the defensive side of the game before letting his offensive instincts flourish. Hameenaho put his ego aside and took to the task. In the early going he really honed in on developing his work away from the puck, knowing that his defensive work would eventually lead to creating offense.
And, indeed, that offense came.
After breaking his pointless streak with a goal, Hameenaho would score nine goals and 21 points in his last 24 contests in Utica to become the club’s leading point getter.
“It was just finding my game on the smaller rink,” he said. “I’ve gotten more and more offense. I think that’s been good to start on the defensive side of the game and then just try to build that offense also.”
Before getting called up to New Jersey, Hameenaho had points in 12 of 16 games for the Comets, which included two three-point efforts and 17 total points (6g-11a). At that point, with the Devils needing a forward recall in mid-January, he was the obvious choice to get a shot.
And while accompanying the Devils to Western Canada, on Jan. 19 at Calgary he made his NHL debut.
“It’s a dream to play your first NHL game. I feel great,” Hameenaho said before the game.
He skated in 12:38 minutes of ice time with center Cody Glass and fellow winger Arseny Gritsyuk. Hameenaho also recorded two shots on goal as the Devils earned a 2-1 overtime victory.
“It was great,” he said after the game. “You have a lot of things in your mind the whole day. You try not to think really of anything and just go out and play your game. It was a good day. The game went very fast by. I felt pretty good. I had really good linemates. That was a big help for me to play my own game. They were helping me.
“It’s your first game so there are nerves. I think it was a good start and we got the win, that’s the best thing.”
The next best thing would be to get a win and score your first NHL goal. That would come two games later in Vancouver on Jan. 23.
After an offensive zone faceoff win, Hameenaho drove to the net. He was there to pick up a wide shot from defenseman Simon Nemec that caromed off the end boards and right to the rookie’s stick. Hameenaho didn’t hesitate to lift it quickly into the vacated net.
“It’s a dream to score your first goal,” said Hameenaho, who also picked up his first NHL assist in the game for a two-point night. “It was a great feeling obviously. You don’t know before that happens (how it feels). It was a great feeling.”