Watson is in his first season with the Michigan Tech Huskies, played one season in Vernon (2016-17) The Vipers signed Watson September 22nd 2016. Watson played in 45 regular season games with the Vipers picking up (3-goals-16-assists-19-points).
Cooper Watson's Player Profile:
http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=248335
This was in the Daily Mining Gazette Newspaper:
Watson looks to build on what his brother accomplished
Local Sports
Aug 4, 2017
Daver Karnosky
Sports Writer
dkarnosky@mininggazette.com
HOUGHTON — Over the past four seasons, Michigan Tech Huskies’ fans have had a front seat to the development of one of the top leaders in program history, Cliff Watson. Watson was a key member of the Huskies’ blueline corps throughout his career. With his graduation, there are is a huge void in need of filling.
Fortunately for Huskies’ fans, they may not have to worry very long, or even learn a new name. Watson’s younger brother, Cooper, is Houghton-bound this fall.
Cooper knows there will be plenty of comparisons made by Huskies’ fans to his older brother, and he is ready for them. In fact, he idolized his older brother growing up, so the comparisons do not surprise him anymore.
“I definitely have some big shoes to fill with how well he did there, and how he led the team and everything,” said Cooper. “I want to just go in and be myself and just try to enjoy my whole college experience. I’m pretty excited about it.”
Standing about a half-inch taller and a few pounds heavier, Cooper played three full seasons with his high school team, Appleton United, before making the jump to the Waterloo Black Hawks of the United States Hockey League (USHL).
During his final two seasons in Appleton, he was also a member of Team Wisconsin, a before-and-after program like Team Copper Country, that played games during the fall and spring.
Eight games into his senior year with Appleton, the Black Hawks, who had drafted him in the 2013 USHL entry draft, had a need for defensemen and Cooper made the jump to the junior game. The transition was a rocky one, as trying to find his way through the level change mid-season proved difficult.
“I was so nervous because I was coming in halfway through their season,” said Cooper. “It was a big jump for me. They were really good that year and I was in and out of the lineup trying to fit in.”
As the 2013-14 season came to a close, he was dealt from the Black Hawks to the Sioux City Musketeers, where he was set to join another sibling, Carver. Neither played a game for the Musketeers, however, as both were dealt in a multi-player deal to the Madison Capitols, a brand new USHL franchise.
Both brothers played two seasons for the Capitols. Cooper, who focused more on keeping pucks out of his own net than scoring, scored four goals and 13 points in 111 games with the young Capitols’ squad.
After two seasons with the Capitols, Cooper was caught in a unique situation where Madison had more 20-year-old players than they were allowed to carry by league rules. A victim of the numbers game, Cooper was a man without a team for a brief time at the start of the 2016-17 season.
Sometimes, the worst situations work out best, and that is exactly what happened for Cooper. After a phone conversation with head coach Mark Ferner, Cooper agreed to pack his bags and head to some 50.6 kilometers north of Kelowna, British Columbia, to Vernon to play for the Vipers of the British Columbia Hockey League.
While playing for the Vipers, Cooper was teammates with future Huskies’ forward Jagger Williamson.
Ferner saw something in Cooper’s game that even he did not see. Over the first few weeks with the club, Ferner spent time working with Cooper on his offensive instincts, wanting to help him become college-ready.
“In Madison…I was more of a stay-at-home kind of guy,” said Cooper. “Once I came to Vernon, our coach there, Mark Ferner, he wanted me to take on a different role. He wanted me to work on it a lot so that I would be more well-rounded coming into college.”
It took awhile for the hard work to pay off, as Cooper scored just six assists over his first 19 games. Then, something clicked, and suddenly the offense poured in as he scored three goals and 10 points over the next eight contests, including a three-point night against the Trail Smoke Eaters on December 10.
“Something clicked; I don’t think it was me as much as it was the guys around me that I was passing to,” said Cooper. “Something just clicked during those two weeks. I didn’t try to think about it too much.”
Cooper finished the season with three goals and 19 points in 45 contests for the Vipers, scoring two of those three goals on the power play. The Vipers made the BCHL playoffs, and they faced the Smoke Eaters again in the opening round. After beating the Smoke Eaters, the Vipers lost a hard-fought series against the Penticton Vees.
Gaining playoff experience was important for Cooper, who joins the Huskies as they head into the second year of the retooled WCHA playoff system that now features two best-of-three series before a playoff championship game, with all games being played at on-campus sites.
“That was my first time in the playoffs,” said Cooper. “It was just a whole different type of hockey. It was really fun to be a part of that. We had a really good team to go into that with. It was an awesome experience”
Cooper likens his game to that of Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn. Coburn’s scouting report suggests that he is “A huge rearguard, known for his defensive play. He’s got terrific reach and willingness to block shots.” With that type of game, Cooper should prove a good partner for an offensively-minded defender like sophomore Mitch Reinke or senior Mark Auk.
There may not be much difference between Cliff and Cooper, but the younger Watson brother hopes that, given time, he can carve out his own legacy at Michigan Tech. He stands slightly taller and has better offensive instincts, but that does not mean he will play with any less tenacity in his own end.
No comments:
Post a Comment