Alex Jefferies shoots a lot of pucks. Not just in games, not just in practice, but all summer long.
And, no, before you ask, he doesn't shoot at a dryer like a certain Sidney Crosby did all those years ago while developing his legendary shot.
"No, I don't," he said with a laugh. "Just a net."
Jefferies, 18, is a right-shooting right wing from Lunenburg, Mass., in his second season with Gunnery, the prep school in Washington, Conn. His shot is a thing of budding legend. During the recent Avon Old Farms Christmas Classic tournament, he exhibited pinpoint accuracy against Kent in the final, sniping one goal from a tight angle that still hasn't been seen by the goalie.
To get that kind of shot, both accurate and hard, Jefferies practices and works out whenever he can, enlisting the help of trainer Jamie Smith for fine-tuning.
"We do a lot of grip-strength stuff, upper-body training that directly translates to the shot," he said, "and then I also shoot a ton of pucks, or anytime I have free ice, I shoot a lot of pucks in the summer."
A Merrimack College commit for next season, Jefferies is considered by Jeff Cox to be the top NHL 2001 prospect in New England prep hockey. Jefferies used that shot to score 27 goals in 31 games with Gunnery last season. This season, he has 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 14 games. But there's more to him than his shot.
"His work ethic is what really separates him from other guys," said Gunnery head coach Craig Badger. "Over the summer, he’ll work out five to six hours a day. He just loves it, he loves to work out, he loves to play hockey. He has a very regimented diet in terms of what he will and won’t eat. He eats an enormous amount of calories and protein because that’s what he wants; he wants to be a hockey player, that’s his driving force.
"Last year, obviously he had a great year, he had 57 points ... but this year I think he's made a really enormous leap forward. His vision and his hockey sense have gone through the roof. Last year, he was more of a catch-and-shoot type of guy, north-south, drive the net, use his pro-level release and score goals.
"This year, his game has really evolved a bit. Even in the game against Berkshire (at the Christmas Classic) at Avon — someone tweeted out he had a skate issue; he didn’t have a skate issue, he got hit into the boards, a knee to his quad, he had a dead leg basically and couldn’t skate. And yet he was still the best player on the ice. He couldn’t get around the ice, so he didn’t. He played a style where, he’d get the puck, head up, and just find seams and dish to other people. And he was able, in the offensive zone, to get himself into a soft spot, catch and release, score, and we win 1-0. That’s playing on one leg."
Jefferies, for his part, seems to have a good sense of his strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths: "My shot and the way I see the ice are definitely the biggest strengths of mine, and then just my speed," he said. "I’d say I’m definitely a power forward, the way I can play below the dots and create offense in the offensive zone. I’d say those are my biggest assets."
As for weaknesses: "I definitely have to work on my play away from the puck and always just improving my speed and getting faster, I think. As the game gets faster at every level, it’s always important to keep working on my stride and getting faster."
When asked who he models his game after, his answer alone gives you good insight into the kind of player Jefferies is.
"I play a lot like Mark Stone on Vegas," he said. "We’re similar in the way that I like to shoot the puck first. I think I have a good shot, but I also can see the ice and set up my teammates, and so I’m similar in that way. I think we’re both power forwards, we like to play below the dots, and definitely I need to work on my speed, but when I’m with the puck, I can make plays and see the ice really well.
"I think it’s a good comparison. I love the way he plays and I like to model my game after him."
Badger was reluctant to compare Jefferies to a pro player, but could see the similarities with Stone.
"I could see him being as a Mark Stone type," Badger said. "He doesn’t show it all the time, but he can have that physical element to his game. Obviously he’s got a great shot, a great release, he’s a goal scorer, but he’s as strong as an ox and when he wants to really use his body, he can. I can see that.
"It’s weird because he’s big but he’s not that big, so it’s hard to compare him to some of the other bigger guys like a T.J. Oshie ... because ultimately he’s only 5-foot-10, 5-foot-11. He’s not showing up at 6-2, 6-3. But yeah, he plays like a bigger-guy’s style. He’s not a true undersized burner out there that relies just on skill. He does use his strength. I could see Mark Stone. Interesting that he says that."
Jefferies is focused on going to Merrimack next year, drafted or not, but has that ultimate goal in mind.
"I hope to play in the NHL; that would be my dream," he said. "That’s what I’ve been working for and so obviously I’m going to keep working at that and hopefully it happens."
Badger thinks the dream is attainable.
"I think the sky’s the limit for him, to be a bit cliché," Badger said. "He is a unique kid where he obviously hears noise and the draft. He’s probably met with 20-plus NHL teams already and more are looking to schedule meetings with him. But getting drafted isn’t really his goal. His goal, long-term, is to play in the NHL and he knows that especially in today’s world, being drafted isn’t necessarily a precursor to that. There are a lot of ways to get there, and his goal is to get there. And so given his mindset to that and his approach to that, and his willingness to literally put in the hours in the offseason, I don’t see that he can’t get there. Ultimately, you never know who gets there and who doesn’t. There’s a lot that goes into that, your ability to adapt and play roles and all that type of stuff, but he’s got as good a shot as anybody that we’ve seen this year, that’s for sure."
And as for that shot ...
One game last year sticks out for Badger. Driving the net, Jefferies took a pass from behind the net on his off-hand and buried it.
"His shot is absurd," Badger said. "He’s on his off-hand, driving directly to the net, and it was off his stick before it was on it. It was bar-down, far side. Goalie never even saw it. We as coaches looked at each other and were like, that was literally NHL level right there. That quick of an on-off, bar-down goal, it’s just not something you see very often at this level."
Paul Grant is an editor and writer for HockeyJournal.com and Seamans Media. He previously oversaw hockey content at ESPN.com and Sporting News. You can connect with him at pgrant@hockeyjournal.com.
