Jobst adjusting to pro hockey
Big 10 basketball helped lead rookie to Bridgeport
BRIDGEPORT — Growing up in Speedway, Ind., surrounded by other sports, Mason Jobst still found his way to hockey. The other sports surrounding him still managed to affect his hockey life, bringing him to the Bridgeport Sound Tiger to begin his pro career.
The Big 10 announced in 2011 that it would add hockey in 2013. Jobst was in.
“There was no hockey, so IU (Indiana) basketball was what I grew up watching,” Jobst said. “I was always familiar with all the Big 10 schools. That was kind of what drew me in.”
Jobst went to Ohio State, got to know a former Buckeye who was scouting for the New York Islanders, and signed this spring after his senior year. Getting acclimated to playing forward in the pro game, his overall game is coming around.
He’d developed in Columbus, where he was one of the final 10 nominees for the Hobey Baker Award in the spring and was team captain for two years.
“It was a blast. I loved every minute,” Jobst (pronounced “yahbst”) said. “It was kind of my dream once the Big 10 conference was formed, to play in the Big 10.”
It helped that Ohio State was about three hours from home outside Indianapolis. He wanted a degree in real estate, and he could get it there. He helped the Buckeyes win their first regularseason conference championship last season.
He signed with the Islanders, Bridgeport’s parent club, after the season. He didn’t get to spend much time in Bridgeport, finishing up school work as the Sound Tigers’ regular season ended, but he got to meet some people, learn some names, get a little acclimated.
“I just really liked the organization,” Jobst said. “I had a really good relationship with (Islanders scout and former Buckeye) Greg Morrow the last two or three years. Every time he came to Ohio State, we’d grab coffee or lunch. I had a lot of trust in him and what they were building here.”
A 25yearold forward coming out of college with some success there in both ends of the ice: There was buzz in training camp about Jobst’s potential to make a mark quickly.
It took some time.
“I feel like I gained some confidence in camp, then once I came here, got settled into the season, it wasn’t exactly the start I was hoping for,” Jobst said. “I still felt I was growing each week, each game. As it goes on, I’m feeling more confidence, kind of playing with a little more swagger.”
He was scratched from six of Bridgeport’s first 18 games, not the only newcomer going through some growing pains.
“Early in the year, he was chasing,” Bridgeport coach Brent Thompson said. “Just getting to know the league and get a little stronger, a little bit faster: Some things he got away with in college, he wasn’t getting away with here.
“But he competes. He’s got undeniable compete. His work ethic’s outstanding. Those are things you can’t teach. The kid, he’s relentless.”
He has kind of had to be relentless. The game has more room for a smaller player than it did, say, 15 years ago, but size is still prized, and Jobst goes 5foot8, 185 pounds.
“(It’s) getting him to simplify his game, not make the highrisk plays,” Thompson said, where “you try to make those, and now you’re chasing, trying to defend against a guy, 64, 220, when he’s a little undersized, too many times, you’re going to get caught.
“He’s a good penalty killer. His faceoffs have been good.”
And after a few weeks to learn the new systems, they’re becoming instinct to him, and his offensive instincts can come back to him. He has four points in the past eight games, including a couple of goals. A confident crossice pass to set up Grant Hutton for a goal on Friday in Utica was an eyeopener.
“(Point production) is where I found my success in college. Obviously it’s going to take a bit for that to translate,” Jobst said. “It’s a lot more difficult, faster game here. I think that’s the next step, take care of my own zone, do the things that pros do every day, and start to produce on the scoreboard.”