Sports

Ace savoring first taste of playoffs as a pro

When Colin Hemingway played for the ECHL's Peoria Rivermen in 2004, his Kelly Cup experience, and his season, ended when he suffered a concussion in the club's second playoff game.

In 2006, when the Rivermen skated in the American Hockey League's Calder Cup playoffs, Hemingway never even hit the ice -- he was a healthy scratch.

That was the totality of Hemingway's playoff experience in his first four pro seasons in North American -- a rattled melon in one postseason, a seat in the stands in another.

"Both left a sour taste,'' Hemingway said.

Little wonder, then, that the winger is smiling so often these days. His Alaska Aces, fresh off their first-round elimination of Utah, are preparing to engage the Victoria Salmon Kings in the ECHL's West Division finals beginning Friday. And Hemingway already has five playoff games under his belt this time around.

"This is the most exciting time for a reason, and as a pro I've really never experienced it,'' Hemingway said. "There's a championship to be won, and that's what we're shooting for. So far, it's been a blast.''

Hemingway scored one goal, assisted on five others and racked a plus-five rating in the Aces' five-game elimination of the Grizzlies. That production came after he led the Aces in regular-season scoring with 25-42--67 totals in 64 games.

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The Aces include several players with long playoff resumes. Captain Scott Burt has played in 108 playoff games and owns two Kelly Cup titles (2007, 2004) from his days with the Idaho Steelheads. Winger Lance Galbraith owns 57 games of playoff experience and shared those Cups with Burt.

Also, defenseman Matt Shasby (54 games), center Vladimir Novak (50) and winger Cam Keith (45) all helped the Aces win the 2006 Kelly Cup.

On the flip side, several Aces have made their professional playoff debuts this season, which isn't uncommon on a circuit that aims to develop young players for the AHL and NHL. Among guys debuting for the Aces have been rookie goaltender Jean-Philippe Lamoureux, rookie defensemen Ryan Turek and T.J. Fast, and second-year center Tomas Kana.

Consider Hemingway a postseason newcomer, too -- he doesn't much consider those two games early in his career as playoff experience. And second-year center/winger Luke Erickson is making his pro playoff debut -- Erickson's Pensacola team last season was the worst in the ECHL, so the Ice Pilots didn't sniff the postseason.

"This time last year I was back at home (in Roseau, Minn.) getting ready for shoulder surgery,'' Erickson said. "I'd watch the (NHL) playoffs on TV and think, 'Man, I wish I was still out there.' "

Erickson scored two goals and an assist in the first round.

Hemingway, meanwhile, is savoring a season in which coach Keith McCambridge assembled a team that won the West Division and National Conference titles and owns home-ice advantage for three playoff rounds, should it advance that far.

That's just what Hemingway, who played last season in Scotland, hoped for when he signed with the Aces in July. Plus, he gets to play with his younger brother, Brett, a returning Aces winger.

"I could have gone some other places and made more money,'' Hemingway said. "But I've been in places where individually I did alright, but as a team we've struggled. I knew Mac was putting together a team that could go far in the playoffs.

"Any time you can do that, and play with your brother -- it was money in the bank. It was an easy decision.''

And one that, nine months later, still has him smiling.

Find Doyle Woody's blog online at adn.com/hockeyblog or call him at 257-4335.

By DOYLE WOODY

dwoody@adn.com

Doyle Woody

Doyle Woody covered hockey and other sports for the Anchorage Daily News for 34 years.

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