The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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nitely have to keep everything bal- anced," he said. "When you have days where you just sit around and wait to play hockey, your minds starts to wander and you're just wait- ing for it, that's when you let hockey define you. "Red definitely tells us not to let hockey define you. You can be a hockey player without it defining you as a person. Going to class every day, having friends outside the team really helps you have a good social life, and a good balance of athletics and academics." Known for his dogged determina- tion, Compher had no doubts about the path he needed to follow to fur- ther his career, both in hockey and beyond. "With college, comes education," he said. "It's something that's really important to me. I knew that there were different routes, hockey-wise, but education is something I wanted to use. Obviously, Michigan has the great reputation for that. "I also think that you've seen many players go from college to the pro ranks, especially in recent years. An- other benefit is the time you have to develop. You have four years as opposed to a couple in Major Junior. You have time to develop physically in the weight room and to put on good weight to ready you for profes- sional hockey." The overall college experience was, and continues to be, a key part in Compher's university life. "It goes back to education," he of- fered. "You also have the sense of be- ing part of something bigger that you don't get if you're playing in a small town in Canada. Michigan is a huge school. You have over 40,000 people around. At football games, you have over 100,000 people around you. Freshman defenseman Zach Werenski, who is rated as a consensus top-10 first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, finished his high school degree requirements a year early so that he could gain experience play- ing for U-M. PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL