NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Thunder '09 All-Star Colin Hemingway Acquired From Alaska

January 21, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Stockton Thunder News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Thunder, proud affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League and Springfield Falcons of the American Hockey League, has acquired the ECHL rights to veteran right winger Colin Hemingway from the Alaska Aces in exchange for left winger Judd Blackwater and has acquired future considerations from the Bakersfield Condors in exchange for defenseman Bobby Davey, Thunder head coach Matt Thomas announced today.

Additionally, it was announced left winger Jason Pitton has been loaned to Springfield and center Oren Eizenman has been loaned to the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) on professional tryout agreements (PTO).

Hemingway, 29, who is playing currently under an AHL contract with the Peoria Rivermen, has also been reassigned to the Thunder from Peoria.

The 6-foot, 195-pound forward has three games of NHL experience with the St. Louis Blues, suiting up in three games in 2005-06. Selected by St. Louis in the eighth round (221st overall) in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, he leaves Alaska tied for third in scoring with 30 points (13g-17a) and tied for third with 13 goals this season.

Last year, Hemingway ranked second in league Kelly Cup Playoff scoring with 25 points (9g-16a) in 21 games, helping guide the Aces to a berth in the Kelly Cup Final.

The native of Regina, Saskatchewan suited up for the National Conference in last year's ECHL All-Star Game, collecting one assist. In 118 career ECHL games, spanning three seasons (2006-07, 2008-10) with Alaska and Pensacola, he has produced over a point-per-game output with 121 points (51g-70a).

Colin, who is reunited with his brother Brett on the Thunder roster for the first time since the two were teammates in Alaska for the last two seasons, led Alaska in scoring last season with 67 points (25g-42a) in 64 regular season games.

Hemingway spent four seasons (1999-03) of his college hockey career at the University of New Hampshire (NCAA), scoring 147 points (67g-80a) in 139 career games, which included an appearance in the 2003 National Championship game against Minnesota. He tallied a career-high 66 points (33g-33a) in 40 games as a 2001-02 junior and led the team with a 33-goal campaign that season.

Blackwater leaves the Thunder after ranking second on the team in scoring with 29 points (14g-15a) in 35 games this season while leading the team with 14 goals.

Davey, 22, has appeared in seven games for the Thunder this season while amassing 17 penalty minutes. In one season plus (2008-10) with Stockton, Fresno and Reading, he has collected two assists in 40 games while posting 136 penalty minutes.

Eizenman leads the Thunder this season with 32 points (9g-23a) and 23 assists in 34 games, is second with nine power-play assists and in three seasons (2007-10), he has skated in 101 career ECHL games with the Thunder and Fresno, scoring 112 points (39g-73a) and posting 75 penalty minutes.

He had one assist in two games with Milwaukee during the weekend and in 41 career AHL games with Milwaukee, San Antonio, Manitoba and Worcester, he has scored nine points (2g-6a) and totaled ten penalty minutes.

Pitton, who was signed by the Thunder as free agent during the summer, has scored 20 points (8g-12) in 34 games while posting 44 penalty minutes. Selected by the New York Islanders in the eighth round (244th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, he has collected 33 career points (13g-20a) in 59 games with Stockton and Utah.

A two-time recipient of the ECHL "Award of Excellence," the Thunder was voted "Best Local Sports Team" by readers of the San Joaquin Magazine, has led the ECHL in attendance for four consecutive seasons and drew 223,854 fans to Stockton Arena in 2008-09. Season tickets, group tickets, mini-plans and individual tickets for 2009-10 are on sale now. For more information about tickets, merchandise, or other inquiries contact the Stockton Thunder offices at (209) 373-1500 or visit http://www.stocktonthunder.com/.

• Discuss this story on the ECHL message board...

ECHL Stories from January 21, 2010


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central