Summers Time to Take Over Captaincy
9/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
Sept. 17, 2009
By Christy Hammond, U-M Athletic Media Relations
Chris Summers may seem like an average student on the University of Michigan campus or at least that's what he wants you to think. He certainly sounds normal when you consider he is a senior majoring in psychology, once worked at Cottage Inn in the summer and enjoys going to U-M sporting events.
However he's not your average college student when you factor in his college hockey career, which began shortly after the Phoenix Coyotes drafted him in the first round (No. 29) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.
Last year, Summers became the team leader a bit faster than anticipated when teammate and captain Mark Mitera (2006-09) suffered a torn ACL in the first game of the season. Summers took over as interim captain until Mitera returned in March following a lengthy rehabilitation.
"I kind of was more or less thrown into the position," Summers said. "It took a little bit for me to adjust just because I hadn't really had much experience at that spot in the last few years. It's tough to be a junior captain. I mean, obviously, there are guys older than me. All of a sudden they are looking up to me for leadership."
While the experience was unexpected, it gave Summers a chance to develop into a stronger leader off-the-ice and prepared him to captain the 2009-10 squad. The Coyotes noticed the maturation of their prospect last year, telling The Michigan Daily that they were impressed with his off-ice development.
Summers passed up an opportunity to start playing professional hockey, instead returning to Ann Arbor for his final collegiate season. He had a few reasons for making that decision, including the fact that he wanted to honor the commitment he had made to play all four years. Summers also knew that a combination of this year's strong senior class with the experience and depth at the blue line would make for a fun year. Including Summers, U-M returns eight letterwinners on defense.
"It's going to be a very competitive blue line and to be honest, I think we're going to be one of the best teams in the nation for defensemen," Summers predicted.
The one thing that he ultimately wants to do this year -- outside of enjoying the college experience -- is graduate.
"We are student-athletes and student obviously does come first," he said. "People don't really respect that I think. I think a lot of people think we are here for just sports and class is just a side thing, but hopefully by the end of winter term or this year, I will graduate with a psychology degree."
As a four-year veteran of the Coyotes' development camp held each summer in Phoenix, Summers was one of the few remaining players of his draft class to remain an amateur. He used his prior camp experiences and knowledge of the system to mentor some of the camp rookies, including Wolverine freshman Chris Brown, who was a second-round pick of the Coyotes in the 2009 NHL Draft.
"Chris Brown was actually my roommate there so I got to know him a little bit better and tell him a few things to kind of get prepared for this season," Summers noted.
The four-day camp features a number of strenuous activities designed to push the players both mentally and physically as they prepare for the eventual grind of an NHL. An almost yearly occurrence is the trek up Camelback Mountain, hiking 1,280 feet up the trail to the summit with the trip usually taking one and a half to three hours. This summer marked the third expedition for Summers up this mountain.
He says the toughest part about camp is the heat with the temperature at a roasting 116 degrees on the last day of camp. The camp organizers were kind enough to schedule the trip up the mountain early in the morning, but that still meant they had to climb just under a mile and a half in 95-degree weather.
While Summers may want to work on getting used to hot weather over the course of the year, which is kind of hard to do here in Michigan, the Coyotes' management told Summers what they want him to address this season.
"I mean obviously you can always work on everything, but they said to take every game as if it were an NHL game," Summers said. "To prepare for it whether you're playing an exhibition game or you're playing against whoever for the national championship game. Every game is important and that's how you should go into every weekend."
Summers will become the fourth Wolverine to go pro in the Phoenix pipeline over the past few years when he does graduate, joining the likes of Al Montoya (2003-05), Kevin Porter (2005-08), and Chad Kolarik (2005-08). The recent influx of Wolverines in the Coyotes' system has provided a strong support system for Summers.
"It's something special because I'll go to the camp and automatically I'm friends with Porter and Kolarik," Summers explained. "This year, it was even more interesting because Brown coming in was the same for me going into my first year, when Porter and Kolarik were ahead of me. It kind of gives you that little bit more edge of confidence and you're a little more comfortable with things."
Before he graduates and moves on to professional hockey, Summers hopes to lead his team into the NCAA Tournament and eventually back the Frozen Four, which will take place at Ford Field in Detroit this spring.
