Donald "Mr. Nice Guy" Brian Rickerby HamiltonBritish Columbia Lacrosse Association
/ref> (born February 18, 1937) is a Canadian retired professional and amateur

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official ...

goaltender In ice hockey, the goaltender (commonly referred to as the goalie) is the player responsible for preventing the hockey puck from entering their team's net, thus preventing the opposing team from scoring. The goaltender mostly plays in or near t ...

and a professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

goaltender. Hamilton was considered an elite goaltender in his time and is a member of the

Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame The Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame is a Canadian lacrosse hall of fame, located in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada. The Hall was chartered in 1965 by the Canadian Lacrosse Association, and inducted its first class of hall of famers in t ...

.By Year
He is remembered as the only goaltender to have completed a shutout in a

Mann Cup The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's box lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship is a best-of-seven, East vs West series played between the league champions of Major Series Lacrosse, the East, and Western Lacrosse Associati ...

national championship game.Central Desktop
/ref>

Career

Hamilton became a goaltender at the age of 12 because of an

asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

condition. Hamilton joined the

Western Lacrosse Association The Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) is a men's Senior A box lacrosse sanctioned by the Canadian Lacrosse Association. It consists of seven teams, based in cities throughout southwestern British Columbia. Each year, the playoff teams battle for ...

Victoria Shamrocks The Victoria Shamrocks are a Senior A box lacrosse team, based in Victoria, British Columbia. The team competes in the 7-team Western Lacrosse Association (WLA). The Shamrocks entered the former Inter-City Lacrosse League, which is now the WLA, i ...

in 1956 as a fill-in for injured starter Geordie Johnston. He would back-up Johnston for the next two seasons while leading his Jr. Shamrocks team to two consecutive

Minto Cup The Minto Cup is awarded annually to the champion junior men's box lacrosse team of Canada. It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto. Originally restricted to amateurs, within three years the first under-the-table professional ...

finals. From 1955 until 1958, Hamilton tended goal in the

Western Hockey League The Western Hockey League (WHL) is a major junior ice hockey league based in Western Canada and the Northwestern United States. The WHL is one of three leagues that constitutes the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) as the highest level of junior h ...

for the

Seattle Americans The Seattle Totems were a professional ice hockey franchise in Seattle, Washington. Under several names prior to 1958, the franchise was a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey League (renamed the Western Hockey League in 1952) between 1944 and 19 ...

and the

Victoria Cougars The Victoria Cougars were a major league professional ice hockey team that played in the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA) from 1911 to 1924 under various names, and (after the PCHA's merger with the Western Canada Hockey League) in the W ...

. In 1960, Hamilton moved to Vancouver and joined the

Vancouver Burrards Vancouver Burrards Senior Lacrosse Club has been the name of several lacrosse teams in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Currently, the Club consists of three teams in Senior B, Senior C, and Intermediate B lacrosse; the Junior B team suspended ...

. On September 23, 1961, Hamilton would become the first and only goaltender during the box lacrosse era to record a shutout in

play, blanking the Brampton Ramblers 13-0. In 1962, at the height of his career, Hamilton was forced to step away from lacrosse when work forced him to move to

Kamloops, British Columbia Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

. While there, he founded their Senior B team and their minor lacrosse association while acting as its first president. In 1968, Hamilton rejoined the Burrards and turned professional with the

National Lacrosse Association The National Lacrosse Association was a professional box lacrosse league that operated in 1968-1969 with teams from both the United States and Canada. Due to poor attendance, the league folded in March 1969. After the folding, two teams (the Map ...

. This lasted for two seasons. Don Hamilton retired from lacrosse with the Burrards in 1976 after winning two

s in three attempts during his career. Hamilton returned as general manager in 1977, and won another

. Hamilton was the Western Manager of Team Canada at the

World Lacrosse Championships The World Lacrosse Championship (WLC) is the international men's field lacrosse championship organized by World Lacrosse that occurs every four years. The WLC began before any international lacrosse organization had been formed. It started as a ...

in 1982.

Honours

Hamilton was inducted into the

in 1990.

Statistics

''Source: Wamper's Bible of Lacrosse and Stan Shillington's "Who's Who in Lacrosse 1933-2013: Goaltending Records".Stan Shillington's "Who's Who in Lacrosse" ''by Stan Shillington'' Western Lacrosse Association. 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Don Canadian lacrosse players Lacrosse people from Vancouver 1937 births Living people