New Recruit - Corey Hoffman

[nahl.com]


The Odessa Jackalopes, proud members of the North American Hockey League, are pleased to announce that forward Corey Hoffman has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for the 2014-15 season. Cornell is a member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC).

Hoffman, 17, is coming off his first season in the NAHL playing for the Jackalopes. He arrived in Odessa in early December after playing the first half of the season for the Belle Tire 16U Midget Minor team.

Hoffman played in 32 regular season games for the Jackalopes during the 2012-13 season and recorded 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists). His first career NAHL goal came on February 6th in a 6-3 loss at Corpus Christi. His 13 points during the year were good enough to finish 7th in team scoring.

“We are very proud of Corey and we wish him the best of luck,” said Jackalopes head coach Matt Cressman. “Cornell has a great staff with Coach Shaffear, who I played for at Western Michigan. I know that he will be in good hands with his NCAA development. I think Corey got some valuable experience and skill development during his time playing in the NAHL.”

Hoffman (5’9/165) recently played in the USA Hockey Select 17 Festival in Williamsville, New York. He scored six goals and added four assists over the span of five games. Three days later he signed his commitment with Cornell, but was on several schools radar throughout the 2012-13 season. The Syosset, New York native has a small frame, but proved to be elusive with a scoring touch over the course of the festival.

Hoffman is somewhat of a late bloomer. He was still playing high school hockey for the Syosset Braves in 2011-12 where he scorched the competition. He netted 44 goals and 57 assists in just 20 games played.

Hoffman is the sixth Jackalopes player from this past season to commit to an NCAA school, joining: Ryan Doucet (Air Force, NCAA DI), John Feemster (St. Olaf, NCAA DIII), Stephan Inman (Saint Michael’s, NCAA DIII), Mike Mezzano (St. Mary’s, NCAA DIII) and Taylor Portner (Wisconsin-River Falls, NCAA DIII).

flyersgolf
“We are very proud of Corey and we wish him the best of luck,” said Jackalopes head coach Matt Cressman. “Cornell has a great staff with Coach Shaffear, who I played for at Western Michigan. I know that he will be in good hands with his NCAA development. I think Corey got some valuable experience and skill development during his time playing in the NAHL.”

That's a new one.

A low scoring half-pint playing in Texas? This seems weird but In Schafer I Trust.

ugarte
A low scoring half-pint playing in Texas? This seems weird but In Schafer I Trust.

When I saw 4G, 9A I thought defenseman, but the article doesn't say.

Jeff Hopkins '82

ugarte
A low scoring half-pint playing in Texas? This seems weird but In Schafer I Trust.

When I saw 4G, 9A I thought defenseman, but the article doesn't say.

Except for this part, which says ...

flyersgolf
The Odessa Jackalopes, proud members of the North American Hockey League, are pleased to announce that forward Corey Hoffman has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for the 2014-15 season. Cornell is a member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC).

He just turned 17 in April, and he was playing in a league where most of the players were born between '92 and '94, so I wouldn't be too concerned about the low scoring numbers. And his team was terrible, 6-51-3.
Let's hope he'll turn out something like another forward from Long Island who went on to captain the Big Red, Ryan Vesce.

He was the 2nd leading scorer at the USA Select 17 Festival. 101 points in 20 games at Syosset.

ACM

Jeff Hopkins '82

ugarte
A low scoring half-pint playing in Texas? This seems weird but In Schafer I Trust.

When I saw 4G, 9A I thought defenseman, but the article doesn't say.

Except for this part, which says ...

flyersgolf
The Odessa Jackalopes, proud members of the North American Hockey League, are pleased to announce that forward Corey Hoffman has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for the 2014-15 season. Cornell is a member of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC).

Oops.

Josh '99

flyersgolf
“We are very proud of Corey and we wish him the best of luck,” said Jackalopes head coach Matt Cressman. “Cornell has a great staff with Coach Shaffear, who I played for at Western Michigan. I know that he will be in good hands with his NCAA development. I think Corey got some valuable experience and skill development during his time playing in the NAHL.”

That's a new one.

The name is ShafFEAR.

jkahn
He just turned 17 in April, and he was playing in a league where most of the players were born between '92 and '94, so I wouldn't be too concerned about the low scoring numbers. And his team was terrible, 6-51-3.

You could call that terrible, yes.

ugarte
A low scoring half-pint playing in Texas? This seems weird but In Schafer I Trust.

On the bright side, he will probably not be poached by the QMJHL.

Interesting that he left Long Island to go play for Belle Tire. Slightly better competition than the AYHL. He did not light the world on fire at Belle Tire with 5 goals and 12 assists in 22 games. Hoffman Belle Tire Stats

These are not the offensive numbers that one normally sees from a good D1 prospect. Maybe he's a strong 2-way player and a great skater that they see fitting in the system.

On Odessa his offensive numbers are also not great but he's the only 16 year old on a roster with mostly 18-20 year olds. Give the kid credit for pushing himself against much older competition. Odessa Jackalopes Stats

RatushnyFan
Interesting that he left Long Island to go play for Belle Tire. Slightly better competition than the AYHL. He did not light the world on fire at Belle Tire with 5 goals and 12 assists in 22 games. Hoffman Belle Tire Stats

These are not the offensive numbers that one normally sees from a good D1 prospect. Maybe he's a strong 2-way player and a great skater that they see fitting in the system.

On Odessa his offensive numbers are also not great but he's the only 16 year old on a roster with mostly 18-20 year olds. Give the kid credit for pushing himself against much older competition. Odessa Jackalopes Stats

It's not unusual to see that kind of progression in the CHL. Hot shot prospect gets drafted at 15, joins roster at 16, has to fight for TOI (not to mention quality TOI like PP) fr the first season, then as guys attrit out his numbers come back. You see a lot of 160 pts -> 20 points --> 80 points guys.

My point is where is the 160 points? He was less than a point a game player as a midget AAA forward. You can throw out the NY high school hockey numbers as they don't mean much. The USA Select Festival is also not very relevant as it's an all-star camp - high scoring games, players have different incentives (not to mention that 7 of his 10 points were in a single game). I'd focus on his numbers at Belle Tire and Odessa in trying to assess him as a D1 prospect. I'm sure that the Cornell staff knows what they are doing, I would guess that this is a very early commitment to try and get a player that they see progressing significantly in the next couple of years.

EDIT - to put his numbers in perspective, look at fellow Cornell recruit Alex Rauter's numbers for 2010-11 (his U16 year) on the North Jersey Avalanche. The Avs that year were ranked higher than Belle Tire's team last year. Alex is a bigger player and he averaged 2.5 points a game. He also seemingly struggled in his first year in the USHL (albeit as an 18 year old) after posting good numbers at Choate. Alex Rauter

RatushnyFan
My point is where is the 160 points? ... You can throw out the NY high school hockey numbers as they don't mean much.

The more you know...

I know this much, I watch a lot of U16 AAA hockey......

Hadn't noticed this before. College Hockey News roster has the freshmen uni numbers:

2 Sade
4 Anderson
21 Lewis
27 P. McCarron
16 Buckles
11 Freschi
26 Kubiak
7 Weidner
30 Coon
32 Gillam