It may have been a few weeks since he made the announcement that he committed to the NCAA-Division 1 program in Tennessee, but the smile hasn’t left the face of Grady Hoffman.
“I’m honoured to be able to further my education and continue playing hockey at Tennessee State University” the 19-year-old said. “I’m lucky to work with a coach like Duante’ Abercrombie, I’m very blessed to have this opportunity.”
Hoffman says the conversations started a while back. “They reached out end of August, early September and it’s been talked about within my family for a while now. We had a call with the coach after talking with them the night before, and I accepted it. It was a great day for my family and I.”
To make the commitment at 19, Hoffman says there were a few factors that went into the decision to not wait. “It’s about securing my future. I want to go to school, and they have a great educational program, I’m very excited. It was a huge part of it. It’s great to play D-1 hockey but the classroom side of it is massive. I’m going to be doing kinesiology or human science. Having that education is really important to me.”
While the future road has been paved, the second year forward believes it can free up his mind to focus on the here and now, that’s bringing a championship back to Steinbach. “We’re worried about team success. This is a great achievement but we as a group have something we’re striving for together.”
Current captain and Alaska-Fairbanks commit Noah Szabo was quick to reach out to Hoffman after the news, but some former teammates did as well. “Leo (Chambers) messaged right away, so did Cole Plowman from up in Alaska”, Hoffman says with a laugh. “It was pretty cool to get that support and to let my current teammates know, it meant a lot to have their support.”
So far in his career, the Yorkton, Saskatchewan product has 29 goals and 25 assists in 58 MJHL games.
The second-year Pistons sniper enjoyed a breakout season in 2023-24, recording 28 goals and 21 assists in 53 games. His performance earned him the MJHL’s Kim Davis Award as Rookie of the Year along with a spot on the MJHL’s All-Rookie Team. Through five games this season, Hoffman has 1 goal and 4 assists.
The Tennessee State University Tigers will begin play in 2025-26 as an independent NCAA Division I hockey program.
