"It's a good way to finish off the golf season," Hoffman said. "The boys were pretty pumped."
Entering his second season with the Panthers, Hoffman certainly came out of the gate hot in 2018-19, stringing together a franchise-record 17-game point streak From Oct. 13 through Nov. 21. In the end, he went on to finish with new career-highs in both goals (36) and points (70).
A major contributor on the top unit of Florida's second-ranked power play, the 29-year-old also notched a team-leading 17 goals on the man advantage, which was tied for fourth in the NHL.
"He's a guy that can shoot the biscuit," Panthers defenseman Keith Yandle said in March. "Impressive that guys know it's coming, goalies know it's coming, but he can still find ways to score goals. Big goals, at that."
With training camp on the horizon, Hoffman is part of a large contingent of Panthers currently practicing informally at the Panthers IceDen in preparation for the impending 2019-20 season.
"All the guys are back now," Hoffman said. "It's good to see everyone. It's good to catch up, get back on the ice and gear up for camp… Each year you come into the following season trying to get better and work on what you did in the past. The same thing goes for this year."
As for his hole-in-one, the occasion puts an exclamation point on a long and eventful summer for Hoffman, one that included getting married, traveling a bit and, of course, a lot of training.
But with the playoff push set to begin in October, he hopes his next offseason is much shorter.
"Obviously when you don't make the playoffs the summers are longer than you expect," Hoffman said. "I stayed busy with training, golfing and getting married. I also went to a couple weddings. It was a busy time, but it's nice to get back here."