By Craig Beauchemin

Former AAA Star hopes to build on first pro season

Apr 25, 2016 | 12:32 PM

Wilkie native Brody Hoffman said his first season as a professional hockey player was a learning experience.

Hoffman spent all of the 2015-16 season with the ECHL’s Quad City Mallards, who were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Missouri Mavericks over the weekend.

“Right from training camp I was able to see how pros carry themselves and see why they’re as good as they are. I hope moving forward I can continue to improve,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman, a goaltender, played in 40 games during the regular season for the Mallards, posting a 19-17-1 record with a 2.78 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. He then started three of the four playoff games with a 3.40 GAA and .884 save percentage.

Hoffman said his goal for the season was to play in the American Hockey League, but the Minnesota Wild felt spending the entire season in its ECHL farm team would be better for his development.

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“The travel wasn’t too bad, you play most of your games within your division so I spent a lot of time in Ohio and Missouri. We did one long swing out to Norfolk overnight which took about 20 hours,” Hoffman laughed.

As for moments that stick out to Hoffman from his first year as a pro, it was something that happened during training camp with the Wild.

“We were doing penalty shots and I came in for the second half,” Hoffman recalled. “First couple minutes I was in, someone hauled down Zach Parise and he came in and knocked the water bottle off my net. That was sort of my ‘welcome to training camp’ moment.”

While he doesn’t have a contract in place for next season, Hoffman said he would like to stay within the Wild organization. Because the team is currently playing the Dallas Stars in the play-offs, he will have to wait before learning his fate with the Minnesota.

Hoffman played with the Battlefords AAA Stars in 2007-08 before a three-year junior career in the SJHL and AJHL with Nipawin and Fort McMurray. He then spent three seasons at the University of Vermont before signing a one-year contract with the Minnesota Wild after his junior year.

Email: cjnbsports@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @craig_beauch