After re-joining the club halfway through last season from Basingstoke Bison, former Guildford Jr. member Andrew Hemmings has reached agreement to remain at Spectrum. The 22 year old forward iced in 23 games during the back stretch of the schedule, registering 5 goals and 11 points, including a goal and an assist in the playoff championship drive. Before the transfer, in 35 outings with the Bison, he had an identical 5 goal, 6 assist production record. The 5’10”, 185lb smooth skating forward iced a total of 89 times with the Bison, tallying 19 goals and 25 assists.
Hemmings initially stepped into the Flames line up during the 2003-2004 season when he iced in a pair of British National League games and then tacked on 51 more the year after that. He began his English Premier League career during the 2005-2006 campaign while continuing to serve with the junior outfit. During the big club’s League title haul that season, he iced 40 times and collected 19 points. He remained at Spectrum the following year when he played a 52 game, 20 point season with the Premier Cup winning side before his first stint away from Surrey when he signed on with neighbouring Bracknell Bees for the next two terms. In 92 starts at the Berkshire base, Hemmings accumulated 12 goals and 29 points while helping the side to the 2007-2008 Premier Cup.
In 168 Flames opportunities, including the club’s BNL tenure, Hemmings has 27 goals, 5 of them game winners, and 52 points.
Internationally, he has 4 games in the books thanks to his tour with Great Britain during their gold medal win at the Under 18 world championships in 2006.
Paul Dixon reflected on Andrew with the club in his earlier days against the player who now represents the side:
“Andrew made a very intelligent decision a few years ago to play elsewhere. As an up and coming player, he made a good contribution to our team, but I think that he wisely recognised that he could extend his opportunities to be a better player by playing somewhere else. We are annually a pretty deep team, and sometimes it can be hard for a young player to get the chance to fit into an experienced line up and still play in roles that are most suitable to his particular skill set. Not unlike players we have had return before, Andrew has come back on a whole different level than when he left. He was always a good skater but now with some physical development to go with it he adds a real speed-energy component to our game. He is much more aware of his responsibility away from the puck and he works hard in both ends of the rink, while still having a nice offensive touch when the opportunities present themselves. We were pleasantly surprised last season about what a difference he made to our line up, particularly on the line he played with, and we may even be underestimating things a bit. He is a great guy in the dressing room, he puts a full effort in on the ice and he is a local guy on top of that. We are glad to welcome him back and we are looking forward to having him available to us right from training camp.” |
