Curtis Hamilton takes the wheel

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Hamilton was named the Rockets’ new general manager on August 26, taking over the hockey department from his father, Bruce Hamilton. But this isn’t a case of someone stepping into a job without knowing what comes with it.

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He’s been around the decisions.

Now he’ll be the one making the final call.

“Being a part of this now for a while, I’m already doing a fair amount of the stuff that’s on the table now, so it’s not a massive change,” Hamilton told RocketFAN. “It’s just a little bit more pressure, I would say, but that comes with the territory. Anybody in a management position has pressure, and you have to make decisions, and it kind of falls on you.”

Hamilton has been preparing for this opportunity for several years.

When he first joined the Rockets’ hockey operations department, much of his focus was on scouting and learning how to evaluate players. From there, his responsibilities grew.

“He didn’t really have to,” Hamilton said when asked whether his father ever formally asked him if he wanted to eventually take over. “I think it was just kind of the plan all along probably.”

That plan included learning how the WHL works, but also learning from other teams.

Hamilton said he has spent time networking around the league, watching how different organizations operate and looking at what works — and what doesn’t.

The goal isn’t simply to copy what another team is doing.

“Figuring out a plan of how we can constantly evolve here because the game is changing, and we have to try to evolve with it,” he said.

That experience has also given Hamilton a familiarity with the people around the Rockets.

He works closely with the coaching staff, training staff and scouting department, and said he doesn’t expect that to change much now that he’s officially the GM.

“Honestly, it doesn’t change a lot day to day,” he said. “I’m based over almost all the time in the coach’s office. I’m working with the training staff, working with Scotty in the ATs, and involved with everything with the players and our scouting staff still.”

Hamilton does have autonomy when it comes to hockey operations decisions.

But that doesn’t mean he’s making decisions in a vacuum.

“I think all of our decisions are group decisions for the most part. I discuss everything,” he said.

Right now, that means plenty of conversations as the Rockets work through training camp, roster decisions and player assignments.

Hamilton leans heavily on head scout Terry McFauls, who has spent decades in the hockey business, as well as the coaching and scouting staffs.

“We all have a word in this,” Hamilton said. “But ultimately it falls on me to make the decision. I take what these guys say, have my own opinion, and we go from there.”

That may be the biggest adjustment.

Hamilton isn’t suggesting he suddenly knows more than everyone else in the room. In fact, he’s quick to point out the experience surrounding him.

But he’s also not intimidated by it.

“I think we’ve built a strong staff here that has experience in junior hockey and pro hockey too,” he said. “I lean on all those guys, and honestly, a lot of the time we’re aligned on almost everything.”

And when they aren’t?

“That’s what the job is,” Hamilton said. “That’s the best part of the job, honestly, is talking our way through things and coming to a resolution on what we think is the best path for the team.”

That approach could be important for a young GM entering a league filled with people who have been doing the job longer than he has.

Hamilton isn’t trying to pretend he’s 50.

He’s simply confident that the years he’s spent learning the job have prepared him for the responsibility.