UNB professor brings Stanley Cup to UNB Fredericton
Author: UNB Newsroom
Posted on Aug 24, 2021
Category: UNB Fredericton
Stanley Cup winners get to spend just a few precious hours with hockey’s greatest trophy, and UNB’s Dr. Ryan Hamilton wanted to share his with the university community.
As an alumnus and assistant professor in the UNB Fredericton department of psychology, Dr. Hamilton wanted to share the moment with the community where he has met many mentors, friends and his wife, Karyn. On Aug. 20, Dr. Hamilton, now a two-time Stanley Cup winner, hosted an event for guests and university members at the Richard J. CURRIE CENTER to do exactly that.
“Each member of the Stanley Cup-winning team gets limited time with the trophy, and we are honoured that Ryan has chosen to share that with our UNB community,” said Dr. Paul Mazerolle, UNB president and vice-chancellor.
Dr. Hamilton serves as mental performance coach for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. The team won back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, both of which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first time around some team members – even head coach Jon Cooper – admitted they would miss being in the “bubble” together.
“It made me think of some of the scholarship I had read about why veterans miss war,” said Dr. Hamilton. “One of the elements is shared sacrifice. You show up each day, you’re having lunch with someone, you’re going for a walk around in circles in the courtyard, and you know that the other people there have made an identical sacrifice as you.”
Dr. Hamilton also outlined some of the trials and tribulations of his job, including a few missteps early on in the role. When he was asked to give his first presentation to the Lightning, he was nervous about turning off the projector in case it didn’t turn back on. His solution was to lean his phone against the lens so the images wouldn’t be displayed.
“I removed my phone so the first slide would appear and revealed the case of the phone had melted to the extra-hot lens and plastic streamed down the projector. I put it aside and gave it my best 20 minutes,” Dr. Hamilton told the crowd.
Dr. Joanne Wright, dean of arts at UNB Fredericton, noted Dr. Hamilton always gives 110 per cent in all of his endeavours.
“Despite being involved at such a high level and a very busy person, he always says yes to our special requests, and makes it clear that he enjoys connecting with students,” she said.
“UNB is incredibly proud to have Ryan as a member of our community,” said Dr. Mazerolle.
Photo: Dr. Ryan Hamilton speaking at UNB's Stanley Cup event on Aug. 20. Credit: Joy Cummings/UNB