A great season for Mirko Hoefflin
Like most Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players, Mirko Hoefflin doesn’t get the chance to play in front of family and friends as often as he’d like.
Those chances are even harder to come by for European born players like Hoefflin, who hit the ice thousands of miles from home.
That’s what made the opportunity to play in the Division 1 Group A World Junior Hockey Championships in his home country of Germany last December that much more special for the Acadie-Bathurst Titan forward.
“It was awesome representing your own country in your own country,” said Hoefflin. “It was a great feeling to play in front of a home crowd.”
With the World Hockey Championships only open to the top 10 ranked teams each year, the Division 1 Group A World Junior Hockey Championships are for the next six ranked countries. The winner of the Division 1 Group A event each year moves up to the World Hockey Championships the following year, while the loser of the Top 10 event moves down to the Division 1 Group A event the next year.
Hoefflin finished the Division 1 Group A tournament with two goals and three assists in five games, and was an impressive plus seven in helping Germany win the event and qualify for the 2013 World Junior Hockey Championships.
The tournament was held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, about a four hour drive from Hoefflin’s hometown of Freiburg, which allowed his family to be on hand for the event.
“They were there the whole tournament,” smiled the soft spoken Hoefflin. “This year they had the chance to see me play back home. Normally they come here (to Canada) for a week or two to visit me and catch some games, but mostly they watch over the internet.”
Hoefflin said he was looking forward to seeing his family once again in February, as his parents and sister were planning a visit to Bathurst to see him play.
“I am excited to see them,” said the 19-year-old. “We’re pretty much home the entire time they are here. You always want to show your parents how you play and especially when they are here it gives you a boost.”
Although he is so far from home, Hoefflin said it is something that every hockey player at this level learns to get used to.
“For me it wasn’t that tough because I left home at the age of 14 to play hockey somewhere else, so it was step by step,” he explained. “First it was like two hours away. I was living alone without my parents then, and then I came over here, so it wasn’t that hard.”
Originally drafted by the Quebec Remparts, in the first round, sixth overall, of the 2010 Canadian Hockey League’s European Import Draft, Hoefflin scored 14 goals and added 31 assists in 54 games with the Remparts as a rookie before being traded to Acadie-Bathurst for forward Jeremie Malouin last June.
Titan head coach Eric Dubois said Hoefflin has been a valuable addition to the team.
“He is a very versatile player,” said Dubois. “He can play on either wing, he can play centre, (he shows) good leadership. He brings a lot to this team. It is not just in the statistics department but he brings leadership, versatility on the ice, is good on faceoffs and the penalty kill. Every coach loves to have guys like that in his lineup.”
Dubois said the forward also brings a good work ethic to the rink.
“He shows up. Everybody has a bad game here and there in the course of a season but he doesn’t have too many of those and that is good to have in your lineup,” said the coach. “When Hoefflin skates, when he uses his wheels, good things happen. When he manages the puck well good things happen. It is all about making good decisions, but it starts from him moving his feet and he’s got good wheels.”
Hoefflin said he tries to be a good two-way player and is willing to take on whatever role the team asks of him.
“I try to be present in offence and defence the same way,” he said. “I try to be a little bit more of a playmaker. I like everything about the game so if I have to be a shutdown (player) I play the shutdown, if I have to score I score.”
Lately Hoefflin has frequently been asked to line up against the other teams top line and limit their scoring opportunities. He said it is a new role for him, but one he is enjoying.
“Try to play tight against the top lines of the other teams and give the chance for our big line to score the big goals,” he explained referring to Acadie-Bathurst’s top scoring line of Zach O’Brien, Sebastien Trudeau and Matthew Bissonnette, who have been at or near the top of the league’s scoring race all season long. “All lines try to score, that is for sure, but we play against (the other teams’) first or second line and try to eliminate them.”
With Dubois constantly juggling his second, third and fourth lines; Hoefflin has often found himself with different linemates, often on the same night.
“We try a lot of things,” he said. “I don’t see it as negative being on different lines with different players. It is pretty exciting for me too to try to play with different players and see what works.”
He is constantly working on improving his own game as well.
“I pretty much try to get better at everything I can do on the ice,” he said. “On the ice you always need to be strong, especially on the boards and play hard in the one-on-one battles. You can always improve that. Also I’m always working on shooting, passing everything.’
Acadie-Bathurst started the season slowly but have been playing much better since early December and find themselves in the middle of the league’s overall standings, battling for home ice advantage in the opening round of the playoffs. With the season now into its final few weeks, Hoefflin said it is important for the Titan to build on the chemistry they’ve established over the past few months and carry that momentum forward into the post season.
“At the beginning of the year you always set high goals,” he said. “We didn’t know each other that well, but once we got rolling things started to turn around. You always have to pay 60 minutes (and stay) focused. We have to be sharp in the D (defence) zone, that is always important, and everything else comes from that.”
“I like it here (in Bathurst),” he concluded. “The atmosphere is pretty laid back, it is nice. The team is great too. I like it here.”
