Edmonton Oilers forward changes number to honour late mother

Hamblin lost his mother to cancer back in 2017 when he was playing with the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers, and the tragic loss had a profound impact on him. His new number will be 52 as a tribute to her, the age she was when she passed away.

Despite being an undrafted overage free agent, Hamblin pushed on to earn a deal with the Bakersfield Condors, and then two stints with the Oilers. In 2023-24, one of the feel-good stories of the season was Hamblin scoring his first career goal and pointing to the sky to honour his mother. It was an incredibly emotional sight to see Hamblin honour his late mother at the biggest moment of his hockey career.

Now 25 years old, Hamblin was re-signed to a two year contract earlier this summer for $775K a season. He played 31 games with the Oilers last year and scored just 2 goals and three points, but was an energy player for the bottom six.

At the very least Hamblin will be a great player and leader for the minor league team, and if he gets called up for a chance to play, the Edmonton-born kid will give it everything he has. Oilers fans will certainly be rooting for Hamblin through the rest of his career.

Source for Stats and Salary: PuckPedia - James Hamblin