The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/432566
BY BOB MILLER U niversity life, both in and out of the classroom, is a fundamental building ground for students as they prepare to make their way into the post-graduate world. Course work and internships provide theoretical and practical applications of the edu- cational process. A handful of college students each year experience a unique type of internship in their quest to prepare themselves for a career in profes- sional hockey. Four Michigan scholarship hockey players, each at a slightly different phase in the process, typify those who seek to take their unique skills at the rink and translate them into a career. Each player will eventually move on to the development system of the National Hockey League team that has drafted him. Junior forward Cristoval "Boo" Nieves is in his third year in Michi- gan's hockey program. Nieves, drafted in the second round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Rangers, has this current 2014-15 season and one more of col- lege eligibility left before he heads out into the world of pro hockey. After a disappointing sophomore campaign, Nieves has moved from playing center to the wing where he has begun to display the talent level that his elite skating and puck- handling skills suggest. Sophomore forward JT Compher is in his second of potentially four seasons with the Wolverines. Drafted by the Buffalo Sabres in the second round of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Compher has already shown the leadership skills to have been named an assistant captain for Michigan in only his second year in the program. Drafted by his hometown Detroit Red Wings 15th overall in the first A Developing SITUATION U-M Helps Players Make The Jump To The Professional Level