Jimmy Hopke is a varsity hockey player for the Woodbridge township hockey team. Despite his injuries Hopke was able to play a solid season. I’ll take a deep look into his season and see how big his impact was.
Overcoming an injury
Hopke missed the first 16 games of the season with a broken leg he got in the off-season. Hopke played 10 games at the forward position and got 1 assist. Not only did he return earlier than expected, he was able to stay on the rink once he got back. It looks like Hopke’s injury was just a freak injury and not something for long term concern.
Hopke was asked to rate his season from 1-10, his response was “I would rate this season a 5, because I did get injured but I did play very well when I returned to the lineup.” His stats may not be eye popping, but when you put the context in it starts to make sense. Even with the injuries Hopke was able to slide right in and help the team out by being a good team player and doing a bunch of little things that don’t show up in the box score or highlight types. He showed flashes of what he’s fully capable of. Overall, I’d say this is an adjustment year for Hopke and he handles it well by playing hard no matter what.
Improvements
One major improvement Hopke made this season was in his skating. Hopke’s statement on this is “I improve my skating a lot from last year, even with the broken leg setback I improve a lot and work all off season to improve that because it was a big weakness of mine” If he continues to improve his skating he will be able to do some great things. For now small improvements are good and very important for his growth as a player.
However, one thing Hopke said he wanted to improve on is his puck handling. Having puck handling is important for getting you and the rest of your teammates good shots. Improving on his puck handling will be very important for Hopke and the rest of the team. I feel like a full season of Hopke playing will do wonders for the team. It will be interesting to see how the team will do with a full season of Hopke.
Overall I’d say this was a solid season for Hopke. He showed signs of what he will be able to do in the future. He made some big time plays, including the one on senior night that helped tie the game. Not a lot of players can have a solid season after a big injury. Hopke did the best he could. One thing you can always count on with Hopke no matter what is that he will play hard and give it his all. Overall, I’d say Hopke is in for a big season next year, good luck to him and the rest of the hockey team!
