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In the early part of his career, getting to the NHL was Colin Hemingway’s primary focus. After he did that, for three games with the St. Louis Blues in 2005, Hemingway shifted his attention toward getting back.
Now that his chances of reaching hockey’s peak have been damaged with time, Hemingway has shown a different priority — getting to play with brother, Brett, who is three years his junior.
The Thunder forwards are teammates for their fourth team in the past three seasons. Both have battled significant injuries, but their brief stint as linemates early in the year displayed a chemistry that helped the team when others were hurt.
"I was fortunate enough to get to the NHL, but it was only for a cup of coffee," Colin Hemingway said. "But I’m a realist. I understand that I’m getting a little older now and it’s getting a little tougher to make that jump.
"My last couple years, I want to enjoy the time I can. Playing with Brett, that was a priority. I wanted to do that. We get along great on and off the ice. We were definitely a package deal this year."
Colin Hemingway, 31, was always a year ahead of getting a chance to play with Brett, including in college at New Hampshire, where Colin finished his career a year before Brett arrived.
By the time Brett was ready to start playing professionally, Colin had already reached the NHL after being selected by the Blues in the eighth round of the 1999 draft. Brett was a seventh-round pick by Colorado in 2003, and their careers were taking them on different paths toward the same goal.
Brett never reached the NHL, and by 2009 their paths were crossing. They played together in Alaska and California that year and in Europe last season before joining the Thunder last summer.
"At the start of your pro career, you can’t really pick and choose who you play with or where you play," Colin said. "We’ve been fortunate, the last three years, to not necessarily pick and tell teams that we wanted to play together, but it’s kind of been opportunity where they needed a couple scorers like ourselves to come in."
Colin missed two months with a lower-body injury before returning earlier this month and Brett has been out since Jan. 27 with a concussion. During the two-week overlap of their injuries, they were able to commiserate.
The Thunder is clearly better with the brothers on the ice, though. They proved that earlier in the season, when their ability to play together was more indicative of their history as teammates than their shared bloodlines.
"When (Coach Kevin McClelland) put us together, it definitely sparked me," Colin said. "I like playing with players who have good ice vision and love to pass the puck. Brett is one of those players who will do that."
Slap shots
• Thunder forward Matt Robinson was named the CHL player of the week. Robinson scored the decisive goal in three straight Thunder wins as part of his five-point week. Robinson needs five goals to record back-to-back 30-goal seasons with Wichita. He has 10 in his last 12 games.
• The Thunder has released no new information regarding the injury to backup goalie Bryan Hogan, who left the ice while in the middle of a shutout against Quad City on Friday. Hogan has a history of groin problems and was said by McClelland to be cramping up in the third quarter. Wichita hasn’t signed an emergency goalie, a sign that the team might consider Hogan day-to-day.
Plus
Aaron Davis returned to the lineup after missing eight games with a head injury and recorded a goal and an assist in his first game back. The following night, Davis notched an assist. He is a point away from becoming the fifth Thunder player to score 40 this season.
Minus
Wichita has lost in front of the four biggest crowds at Intrust Bank Arena, and two of those games have happened this season. The Thunder fell 3-1 to Rapid City in front of 13,168 fans, and on Sunday 10,085 saw Wichita lost 4-3 to Missouri.
Tap of the stick
Even as Wichita has built its lead over Allen for first place in the Berry Conference to four points, it hasn’t been the league’s hottest team. That distinction is co-owned by Texas and Evansville, which have each won six straight. Texas is 10 points behind Wichita, while Evansville leads the Turner Conference. Wichita plays Texas once more during the regular season and Evansville four times.
Penalty box
In Wichita’s win at Missouri on Saturday, referee Mark-Andre Lavoie called 12 penalties that resulted in 24 penalty minutes. The next night in Wichita, Lavoie whistled three penalties in a game that featured six penalty minutes. The discrepancy, as you’ll see below, irritated McClelland.
Defining stat
Plus-14
Matt Summers’ rating in his last 10 games. The Thunder forward has 13 points in that span and seven points during a four-game scoring streak.
He said it
"It’s really hard as players. I’m past worrying about the (officials). But for the players to get a grasp on what’s going to be called, it’s real tough on them."
— McClelland on the difference in how the weekend games against Missouri were officiated
