{"id":30775,"date":"2009-11-10T13:46:47","date_gmt":"2009-11-10T19:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2009\/11\/10\/rising-out-of-the-crowd\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:32","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:32","slug":"rising-out-of-the-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2009\/11\/10\/rising-out-of-the-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"Rising Out of the Crowd"},"content":{"rendered":"
Carl Hagelin didn’t exactly stand out from the crowd when he attended Red Berenson’s Michigan Hockey Camp as a youngster almost a decade ago, even though he traveled all the way from Sodertalje, Sweden, to skate in Ann Arbor and in Berenson’s graces. <\/p>\n
“No I don’t [remember him]; I remember his older brother, Bobbie, was a really good prospect,” Berenson, Michigan’s 26-year hockey coach said. “Carl was really young then but his brother was noticeably good.” <\/p>\n
Berenson might not recall the younger Hagelin attending his camp, but Berenson and his camp left an awfully large imprint on the impressionable mind of the younger Hagelin. About seven years after attending camp in Ann Arbor for the first time, Hagelin was drafted in the sixth round (No. 168 overall) by the New York Rangers in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft but chose instead to play for the Wolverines. <\/p>\n
“I was always the tiniest kid on the team. I was a late bloomer on and off the ice,” said the junior left winger, who didn’t start playing hockey until he was about 8 years old. “When I was 16 or 17 I grew and put some weight on.” <\/p>\n
But even though his brother went pro (currently playing in Denmark) straight away, Hagelin turned down opportunities to take the same track. Instead the 6-foot, 181-pounder decided to follow in the footsteps of his father by attending school in Michigan. While his father went to Western Michigan, Hagelin turned down Ferris State and Northern Michigan to become a Wolverine. <\/p>\n