Gilles Hamel

Gilles Julien Hamel (born March 18, 1960) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey right wing. He was drafted in the fourth round, 74th overall, by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1979 NHL entry draft. Gilles is the brother of Jean Hamel.

Biography Hamel was born in Asbestos, Quebec. As a youth, he played in the 1972 and 1973 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Asbestos. He played three seasons of junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Hamel made his professional debut with the Sabres' American Hockey League affiliate, the Rochester Americans, in the 1980 Calder Cup playoffs. After six seasons in the National Hockey League with Buffalo, during which he scored 92 goals, he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for Scott Arniel after the 1985–86 season.

Hamel had the most prolific goal-scoring season of his NHL career in 1986–87 with Winnipeg, notching 27 goals. After a mediocre 1987–88, however, and spending much of the early 1988–89 season in the AHL, Hamel was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Paul Fenton. He played just eleven games with the Kings during that season, and spent the final year of his career playing in France.

In his NHL career, Hamel appeared in 519 games. He scored 127 goals and added 147 assists. He also played in 27 NHL playoff games, scoring four goals and five assists.

Career statistics Regular season and playoffs Regular seasonPlayoffs Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM 1977–78 Laval National QMJHL 72 44 37 81 63 5 2 2 4 4 1978–79 Laval National QMJHL 72 56 55 111 130 — — — — — 1979–80 Trois-Rivières Draveurs QMJHL 12 13 8 21 8 — — — — — 1979–80 Chicoutimi Saguenéens QMJHL 57 73 62 135 87 12 10 6 16 18 1979–80 Rochester Americans AHL — — — — — 1 0 0 0 0 1980–81 Buffalo Sabres NHL 51 10 9 19 53 5 0 1 1 4 1980–81 Rochester Americans AHL 14 8 7 15 7 — — — — — 1981–82 Buffalo Sabres NHL 16 2 7 9 2 — — — — — 1981–82 Rochester Americans AHL 57 31 44 75 55 — — — — — 1982–83 Buffalo Sabres NHL 66 22 20 42 26 9 2 2 4 2 1983–84 Buffalo Sabres NHL 75 21 23 44 37 3 0 2 2 2 1984–85 Buffalo Sabres NHL 80 18 30 48 36 1 0 0 0 0 1985–86 Buffalo Sabres NHL 77 19 25 44 61 — — — — — 1986–87 Winnipeg Jets NHL 79 27 21 48 24 8 2 0 2 2 1987–88 Winnipeg Jets NHL 63 8 11 19 35 1 0 0 0 0 1988–89 Winnipeg Jets NHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — — 1988–89 Moncton Hawks AHL 14 7 5 12 10 — — — — — 1988–89 Los Angeles Kings NHL 11 0 1 1 2 — — — — — 1988–89 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 34 9 9 18 12 1 0 0 0 0 1989–90 Hockey Club de Caen FRA 8 8 7 15 10 — — — — — NHL totals 519 127 147 274 276 27 4 5 9 10