Providence, RI — Continuing a series we began last week, I was able to get in touch with Scott Herbst (@herbst20), who covers the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the United States Hockey League.We reached out to him via email to ask him three questions regarding Hampton’s abilities as a player and what he could being to Northeastern when he arrives. Cedar Rapids has been a stopping point for many Huskies in the past before arriving at Northeastern, most recently Matt Filipe, Adam Gaudette, and Tanner Pond. The latest Northeastern recruit to go through Iowa is Bobby Hampton, a forward hailing from Middletown, New Jersey.
Hampton had a previous USHL stop with the Chicago Steel, and was traded to Cedar Rapids after nine games with Chicago, in which he compiled two assists. Since arriving with his new team, Hampton has had a resurgence, scoring ten goals and six assists for sixteen points in twenty-nine games. Before the USHL, he played in the North Jersey Avalanche hockey program.
NUHB: How has Hampton changed his game, positively or negatively, since his trade to Cedar Rapids? His production obviously went up, is it a product of a new environment, new teammates, new coach- what do you think led to the spike?
SH: His production has increased because he is seeing more ice time. Bobby was buried on the depth chart in Chicago and while he went from the 1st place team to the last place team, it has been better for his development. With ice time he has gained confidence, the ability to find open spaces on the ice, and with that has been able to find his way onto the score sheet. He is averaging a point per game over the last 7. He is well liked among his teammates and they have started calling him “Showtime” as seen from the article below.
Article from Jeff Johnson of the Cedar Rapids Gazette following Saturday’s game (Editor note: Hampton scored 2 goals on NU recruit Cayden Primeau, detailed in the link): http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/blogs/diamonds-and-ice-by-jeff-johnson/after-review-bobby-hampton-wins-it-for-cr-roughriders-with-late-goal-20170218
NUHB: How would you describe Hampton as a player? He’s a little taller than average at 6 feet, 175 pounds. What does that translate to on the ice?
SH: Hampton is a 2 way center with great offensive instincts and shoot first mentality. He gets is shot off quickly and with a high degree of accuracy. As you have stated he is not the biggest guy in the world buy by no means does this hamper him on the ice. He will go to the dirty areas to battle.
NUHB: We expect Hampton to enroll at NU in 2018. What kind of player do you project him to be at the college level?
SH: The 2nd full year is only going to help Hampton make an immediate impact when stepping on campus at Northeastern. As the Husky program has seen with players coming from Cedar Rapids (Gaudette, Filipe, Pond), you are going to get a player that works his tail off in all 3 zones. Hampton will be a 3-4 year guy at NU who start as a bottom 6 guy but will find his way into the top 6. I would expect him to be a 10-15 point scorer as a freshman and definitely trend upward after that.
Many thanks again to Scott for contributing to this piece. His opinion and insight to Cedar Rapids hockey has been invaluable to Huskies fans that track the team’s recruits through CR. Hampton sounds like the kind of players that good programs need in their lineup and locker room to continue the success they build up, and we look forward to him entering school in the Fall of 2018.
To view our Northeastern Hockey roster projection, including Hampton in 2018, click here.