Travis Hamonic always will have a warm spot among Islanders fans for having given everything he had on the ice, and for not stopping there. Having lost his own father at a young age, he stood out for spending time after every Islanders home game with a child who had lost a parent.
It was all part of his own growing-up process and it all came back to him Sunday as the Flames defenseman played against the Islanders for the first time. “It’s been seven-plus years with a lot of teammates, friends, trainers. It’s not just them, it’s their families as well,” he told reporters after the morning skate at Barclays Center.