Singin’ forward hopes to be a hit with Oilers
Aspiring country singer gets hockey reprieve after trade from Flyers to Oilers
When Cooper Marody’s rights were traded to the Edmonton Oilers last March, it was music to his ears.
The University of Michigan centre was probably singing a sad song as he was caught in a maelstrom of young forwards in the Philadelphia Flyers organization after they drafted him.
Now, the country singer who has producers in Nashville very interested in his music, is happy. He knows he has a much better chance to make it to the NHL here sooner than he did in Philly.
In regards to his musical talent, college teammate Quinn Hughes — picked seventh overall in this year’s NHL Entry Draft by the Vancouver Canucks — says Marody is another Luke Bryan. Heady stuff, indeed.
“Quinnie’s a good guy,” said Marody, 21, who is attending the Oilers development camp at the downtown community arena.
“He’s heard me with my guitar or on the piano singing the right songs. It’s something to do outside the rink to get your mind off hockey. I have some songs that have been produced. I have buddies in Nashville who’ve helped. Playing hockey opens a lot of doors. A lot of people want to talk to you because it’s kind of different. I play better hockey when I have another distraction.
“My freshman year of college I bought a guitar and taught myself and started writing songs. I progressed to piano. There was a private music room at Michigan after I got my homework done.”
The political science major knows Broadway Avenue in downtown Nashville, just outside the Predators’ home rink, where the famous Tootsies and other honkytonks are. There’s often a glass jar at the door for silver collection for groups looking to get discovered.
“I’m not really a bar guy, but the performers there are all phenomenal. There’s top guys playing everywhere on Broadway,” he said. “It’s such an exciting town.” Marody is a pop-country guy. “I didn’t grow up on a farm, driving down dirt roads. That’s not what I write about or sing about or I relate to,” he said. “The country song writing is deeper and has meaning and there’s storytelling.
“There’s a pop-country guy (Sam Hunt) I follow who was a college quarterback at U of Alabama Birmingham.”
So you can mix music and sports. Marody, who is from Michigan, was drafted in the sixth round in 2015. He spent three years at Michigan including a terrific junior season when he had 51 points for the NCAA tournament semifinalists. His 35 assists were third most in the nation.
“In your third year, you’re stronger and I had tons of confidence going in. I had good chemistry with my linemates and I played with Quinn Hughes on the power play. I like to play with high-IQ skill players and it was enjoyable playing with him for sure,” he said.
The feeling was Marody wasn’t going to sign with the Flyers so they traded his rights.
“I just wanted to look elsewhere. I was looking for a different opportunity and we were thrilled when the Oilers called. I just want to out-work people and get a spot on the big club,” he said. “I thought Detroit might be a possibility and then the Oilers called. That was so random, finding out they wanted me. I want to be around people with high character and I found that in my first conversation with Mr. (GM Peter) Chiarelli and the rest of the staff.”
As soon as he knew he was an Oiler, Marody ’s homework started.
“I have every single goal the Oilers scored on the power play last year clipped and labelled by me, every single goal they scored fiveon-five, if it was off a zone entry, how many times (Connor) McDavid had the puck. I looked at hundreds of goals,” said Marody. “It’s something I study. The guy I work with (in Michigan) is terrific. I just want to see how I might be able to fill those holes. I want to see if I can play with Connor some day and I think I can on the power play, but it’s going to take a lot of work. I’m big into video and learning from the best players in the world.”