"It's special for a lot of reasons," Hammond said Friday. "Obviously my time there was the highlight of my career. The people wrapped their arms around me and supported me like nothing I would have ever thought would be possible. Now to get the opportunity to come back and play is obviously going to be very special."
It will be Hammond's second NHL regular-season start since March 2018. He made 30 saves Sunday in his Canadiens debut, a 3-2 shootout win at the New York Islanders.
"Obviously you want to start on the right foot," Hammond said. "There wasn't ever a moment before where I was worried that it might not go well. I always approach every game with confidence and belief. There was never a point in the game where I was thinking, 'I can't let anything in.' I was just trying to play my game."
In 2014-15 with Ottawa, Hammond was 20-1-2 with a 1.79 GAA, .941 save percentage and three shutouts. He helped the Senators reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs after they were 14 points out of the last spot in the Eastern Conference on Feb. 10.
Hammond played 24 games for the Senators the following season before playing seven NHL games the next two seasons.
The 34-year-old said the last time he was in Ottawa was at training camp in 2017 before being traded to the Colorado Avalanche. He said the Canadiens will be staying at the hotel where he lived for five months while with the Senators.
He was acquired by Montreal in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 12 after spending last season on the Wild taxi squad.
"Last year was difficult at times, but I think it gave me a good opportunity to get ready for this moment so when I do play I feel like I'll be ready," Hammond said before his Canadiens debut. "... Last year I learned a lot about just staying ready and being ready for opportunities when they come your way, and I think I've kind of taken that lesson with me this year, and it's kind of unfolded here in the last week. I'm honestly just so excited to play when I do."
Hammond is 28-15-6 with a 2.30 goals-against average, .923 save percentage and four shutouts in 57 NHL regular-season games (50 starts), and 1-3 with a 3.00 GAA and .924 save percentage in five playoff games (four starts). He and Sam Montembeault are the Canadiens goalies with Carey Price (knee) and Jake Allen (lower body) unavailable because of injury.
Montreal (12-33-7) is last in the Eastern Conference but has won four in a row under coach Martin St. Louis, who replaced Dominique Ducharme on Feb. 9.
"You've got a player like that who didn't play in the NHL in the last three and a half or four years but has continued to work on his game and his attitude," St. Louis said of Hammond. "He's a guy who seems to love hockey and it's great to give a chance to players like that who keep on working."
Hammond was 6-2-3 with a 2.44 GAA, .908 save percentage and three shutouts in 11 games with Iowa of the AHL this season. He played 95 AHL games since the 2017-18 season.
He last played at Canadian Tire Centre on Feb. 7, 2017, a 6-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues, prior to the game Saturday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, CITY, SNE, TVAS, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
"At the end of the day, I'm just trying to show what I can do," Hammond said. "Everything else is out of my hands, so I'm just trying to control what I can and everything else is really just up to other people."
NHL.com staff writer David Satriano contributed to this report
