A motivation for Andrew Copp to leave? Apparently his dad didn't like that Copp wasn't the leading scorer the past two seasons and blamed this on Michigan's failure to develop him to be the first-line center he was destined to be.
This is what society has become. Every parent thinks their kid is the next Crosby. Winnipeg apparently told the family he could one day lead their team in points. I like Andrew a lot but that is a crock.
Spath – As you can note by my username I am Andrew Copp’s father. I am disappointed that not only would you put words in my mouth that aren’t true, but that you would believe and/or regurgitate outright lies. Since we have never met nor had a conversation, you are clearly spreading one sided rumors. I do not wish to get into a war of words or disparage anyone, but I would like to properly inform you of the background and facts that may help you get a clear and proper understanding of the situation.
Background – As has been made public in the past Andrew grew up with Michigan Hockey as a part of his life. The same can be said for both myself and my wife. Our parents had season tickets and when we first got married we got our own season tickets which we still have today. We have been supporters of the program thru the years, including being Dekers and also hosting the Red Berenson Show for many years at our restaurant. I myself have been critical of many players in the past that have left the program early. I have been a AAA hockey coach at Compuware for 10+ years and have coach many current and future players extensively, and have helped in the process of them coming to Michigan including Trouba, Copp, Shuart, Nagelvoort, Martin, Boka, Warren, and Catt. I have also been the regional scout for the USA NTDP for the past 5 years and have helped with information about potential recruits. In other words our family has been very strong but quiet supporters of the program and any information to the contrary is not true.
Decision – Michael it is disappointing that as you have gotten to know Andrew over the last 3 years you should have a gut feeling about how he is as a person. Much has been made about it in the press and by the coaches over the years. Andrew is a very mature young man with character, conviction, and morals. I can tell you that Andrew made the decision to leave completely on his own. We do not parent like micro-managers, we have always raised our two boys to be independent and we support the decisions that they do make. Andrew consulted with our family during the process but never once asked our opinion on what he should do with his life nor did we give it, that is HIS decision. To be honest I don’t know what I would have said, I would have loved to see him play his senior year, see him a couple times a week and every Sunday for family dinner. As a parent you hope you provide your kids with the life skills to make difficult decisions and I am proud of how Andrew has navigated this process.
Rumor – You mentioned 3 things that I would like to address: 1) There was one conversation with Winnipeg in which they spelled out where they thought Andrews “game” was at and the opportunity to compete for a spot. There was no prediction of him being a point leader on the team as you say, there was absolutely no pressure by Winnipeg as has been erroneously speculated by Red. The only thing they offered him was an opportunity to compete for a spot, and that he would start at the bottom. If you look at Andrews background, that is the environment that he has welcomed and thrived in. He was offered an opportunity to join the NTDP and have access to the best training that a 16-17 yr old can get, but there were no promises or guarantees for playing time or to even dress for games. He was clearly going in as the 14th forward but he embraced the opportunity and over the course of time worked his way up to being an important member of the U18 world team and again on the world jr team. At the end of his senior year Michigan offered him basically the same thing. They initially offered him a walk-on spot to come in the following year which Andrew turned down and it was only after Chris Brown left that they came back and offered him to come in right away, but they only offered him a 50% scholarship for the first year with no money after that unless he earned it. Andrew turned down full rides at other schools whose programs were more successful at the time and continue to be, and we supported his decision to follow his dream even if we had to pay for it verse a scholarship somewhere else. Obviously, Andrew started the year as a 4th line left wing and quickly worked his way up the depth chart. 2) The comment about me wanting him to be the point leader is Ludacris. As mentioned previously, I coached Andrew from the time he could skate until the year before he went to USA. The reason that he is so defensively sound is because that is the way he has been brought up in hockey. If I was all about the points I would have coached him much differently and he would be a different type of player. I understand Andrew is not the next coming of Crosby as you put it! If you have time to do some research you would find that the players I coach are all taught to play a 200ft game and that team success is much more important that individual stats. I would be happy to provide you with a list of players to support my point. 3) The comment about me “blaming the coaches” comes from a conversation that I had with one of the coaches two weeks ago. I can tell you that in the 3 years that Andrew was at Michigan I had 2 conversations with the coaches about Andrew. The first was this year after the first game of the year against Ferris when Andrew got a concussion. The following week I met with the coaches out of concern for my son, to discuss their plan of treatment and return to play for Andrew. I have never had a discussion about his playing time, his line mates, his situational time, his role, etc. As a coach myself I respect them to do their job and I understand that my role is just to support our son. The second conversation was two weeks ago and is the one that prompted the comment that you heard on your visit to Yost. Red has been very vocal in his displeasure about Andrew leaving and has taken every opportunity to make this public. We thought that it would run its course but Red choose to drive home his point again at the team banquet during his speech and again as Andrews name was never mentioned once in the 3+hr banquet including the introduction and recognition of the junior class. As Red has mentioned many times, Andrew was “all in”, he was all about the program, working hard, doing the right things, providing leadership, and helping to change the culture. So you can imagine Andrew’s disappointment and ours that he has now been betrayed by his coach and that his work and commitment to the program was disregarding because Red didn’t like his decision. In my opinion Leaders, Coaches, and Mentors have a higher obligation to their players and you don’t disparage them in public, they have your trust and you have theirs, and that you support each other whether you agree with them or not. I called one of the coaches to express my displeasure and disbelief that the program would turn on Andrew and treat him the way Red has. I told him that instead of trying to place all the blame on Winnipeg, the money, the Dad, etc., that they needed to take some of the blame as well. Andrew is a local kid, a kid that wanted to be a Michigan hockey player, a leader of the team, a good student, and the type of kid you expect to be a 4 year player. I can guarantee he didn’t take the decision lightly and that money, pressure, and points had no bearing on his decision to leave.
Final Thought – Andrew made a couple of comments in our conversation after he told me his decision that are worth noting. First was that he was concerned that he would probably be portrayed to be someone that he wasn’t because of his decision to leave. This has obviously turned out to be true but I’m surprised that it came from the coach and not the fan base. Second was that he felt support from his teammates in his decision and that he was very confident that he was leaving the program better that when he arrived and that the team is poised to take the next step forward with the leadership of JT Compher and others. The team has many great players and an exciting stable of recruits coming in next year and many years to come. There has been speculation on this forum in the past about the effect of Mel’s departure from the program. There is no denying that he was a loss to the program and has done a wonderful job at Tech, but I can tell you that you have all underestimated Wiseman’s influence. Brian has been an asset to the program and deserves a ton of credit for putting together some outstanding recruiting classes.
Andrew and the Copp family will continue to support players and the program next year and beyond!
Go Blue!
