Last spring, Michigan forward Cooper Marody came down with mononucleosis, which kept him out of the Wolverines’ lineup for more than a month. During his time before the illness, the freshman had made a name for himself as one of the better secondary scorers on a stacked Michigan team.
The illness quelled what had been an excellent start to the year, and heightened expectations for fans come the fall when he was to be leaned on as a big scoring threat. With the program’s loss of many high-profile players to the NHL, this was the year that Marody was poised to establish himself as the go-to man for the Wolverines.
But in October, head coach Red Berenson announced that Marody was academically ineligible for the fall semester. Just now returning to the ice, Marody sat down and spoke to Pucks and Recreation about his time away from the game.
Michigan had started the year spinning its wheels. While the team struggled to find its identity early on, Marody was forced to watch from the sidelines.
“It was really difficult,” Marody remarked. “You never want to miss out when the team needs a win. In the meantime, I had to be the best version of myself that I could be.”
Having school issues is new to Marody, who has plans to enter the Ross School of Business. And the mono certainly played a role in inhibiting his success in the classroom.
“A set of circumstances prevented my success,” he stated. “It’s all about overcoming things, and how you learn and move forward.”
Marody has never had something keep him away from the game this long before. When he was not busy preparing to rejoin the Wolverines, he spent his extra downtime writing and recording music. Marody, who sings and plays both the guitar and piano, has his debut album — “Thanks for the Songs” — coming soon.
But now that he is back on the ice, Marody is ready to put it all behind him and move forward. “You always have to note things in the past, but it’s how we move forward that matters,” he said.
The Philadelphia Flyers were also affected by this setback, as they selected Marody in the sixth round of the 2015 draft. However, Marody said that they were understanding and confident in him and his ability to recover.
Some positives stemmed from his time off the ice. Marody said that he had never watched more hockey in his life than he did while ineligible.
“It gave me a different viewpoint,” he offered. “I’ve learned more about the game and now see it from a new perspective.
In addition to studying film, Marody had been in the weight room every day leading up to his return.
“I’ve gained weight and muscle every day,” stated Marody. “It’s to make my body at a competing level.”
Marody made good on his recent return. In his second game back, the consolation game of the Great Lakes Invitational, he scored three points for a playmaker hat trick in a 5-4 overtime victory over instate rival Michigan State.
To date, those are all of his three points through six appearances on an 8-12-2 Wolverines team.
“It was huge getting the win,” Marody remarked. “We all played well, but it’s not going to be easy (going forward).”
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