Scholar Stories: Calderone Learning from Hat Trick of Michigan Mentors
2/7/2018 10:48:00 AM | Ice Hockey, Features
Continuing the popular series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan ice hockey team captain Tony Calderone has been impacted by Edward Cho as surely as he has Red Berenson and now Mel Pearson.
Calderone has been nominated for the Hobey Baker Award that goes to college hockey's top player, and that is where his first coach, Berenson, and current coach, Pearson, come into play.
Calderone is an economics major who also was selected Academic All-Big Ten last season, and that is where Cho enters the picture.
"Ed Cho is very energetic," said Calderone, "and he's passionate about what he's teaching. He really wanted to make sure that we learned the topics. He's by far my favorite professor, and really cares about the students. I really enjoyed his class. He slowed everything down, and made sure we got it. He just loves his job."
Calderone's favorite class has been Economics 396, Financial Markets, which Cho taught.
"It talked about the stock market," said Calderone, "and talked about the financial crisis and all the things that were extremely real world with applications. I learned all the financial terms and learned about the stock market and started playing with that."
He is not sure what area of economics he is most interested in studying.
"Economics is a pretty general degree which is nice because I want to go into something in business, but I don't know exactly what I want to do yet," said Calderone. "So touching up on everything in economics was good for me because I can pick my path when I get out in the real world.
"What appeals to me about economics is how relative it is to everyday life. Everything we do involves the economy, and it's really cool to see how it all changes with things like the president or whatever is going on in the world, and how it affects oil prices and other things. Knowing what's going on behind everything is very cool."
Calderone said he is not currently pursuing an internship along the lines of the one former Wolverine goalie Steve Racine secured on Wall Street, but might someday. He will be an NHL free agent after this season, and will have pro hockey options.
"That would be awesome to do," Calderone said of the internship, "but I think I want to play hockey for a couple years after school. But, obviously, hockey doesn't last forever. So, I'd like to get into something like investment banking or something along those lines. But I know that's a very select group."
Calderone has developed strong study habits around the busy schedule of playing in a demanding hockey program and traveling to road games. He generally leaves practices at Yost Ice Arena about 6 p.m., and goes to the Ross Academic Center right across the street for homework and study. He said between three and four hours daily are dedicated to academic work.
"It's important for everyone to know just how hard we have to work in order to keep up," said Calderone, who along with teammates often studies on team charter planes and buses.
A Hobey Baker Award nominee, senior Tony Calderone has matched his goal total from last season (15) and, so far, has 44 in his career at Michigan.
He added that they might also find themselves doing homework right up until they go to games, and continue after the games past midnight.
Berenson, and now Pearson, stress the need to focus on both sides of the hyphen in "student-athlete."
Calderone, a senior from Trenton, Michigan, was recruited to Michigan by Berenson. He scored three goals as a freshman and 11 as a sophomore before leading the team with 15 goals as a junior. He also leads with 15 goals as a senior with six regular-season games and postseason play remaining.
When asked about Calderone's development as a top scorer, Berenson, who retired after last season, said:
"I'm not surprised. He came here with high expectations and I was the first one to criticize him his first year. He couldn't get out of his own way. He's a great kid and a great player. But now he's finally come to play, and that's what college sports are all about. You finally become the player you wanted to become, and it's great for everybody."
That response was read to Calderone, who smiled and clearly appreciated it.
"That's awesome," said Calderone, a member of the 2016 Big Ten Tournament champions who came one victory short of reaching the Frozen Four. "That's really cool. He was awesome. He's right, he criticized me right when I got here. So, he let me know that I wasn't the player I should be, which I wasn't.
"It was a new thing for me. In the junior league (USHL Sioux Falls Stampede), I was always the top scorer. But coming into college, you are here with so many good guys. He told me something I needed to hear, and to see how hard the guys who were better than me were working. So, he had a huge impact. His straight-up mentality was really very helpful."
Pearson, a longtime Berenson assistant coach who became the head coach at Michigan Tech before returning to Michigan, also has impacted Calderone.
"He's been awesome," said Calderone. "A lot of times, I'm my own biggest critic and get on myself. I'm really harsh on myself and get down. But he's taken a step back and said, 'Relax. You're doing good. Everything's fine.' He's very positive and brings a lot of energy to the practices. I think that's really affected me.
"It's tough on me just to relax. This is my last year and I want to make the most of it. You don't want to regret anything. So, him sitting me down and telling me things like that just hit home with me."
Calderone had a hat trick against Michigan State in December at Yost, and now has 44 goals for his career.
He is a member of the high-scoring "Run DMC" line with Dexter Dancs and Cooper Marody, also a Hobey Baker nominee.
"I was very surprised by it," Calderone said of the nomination. "I know I got off to a good start. But the Hobey Baker is something that I never really put myself in the same sentence with. I saw Kyle Connor's run (in 2016) and the fact that he didn't win it was unbelievable. But to hear my name, even in the mix, is very cool.
"My family is all very excited about it. So, I'm happier for them. I think they were more excited than I was. I think I know the reality of me winning it, and so they're sharing everything on Facebook and it's really cool to see."
His parents, Gene and Carol, have less than a one-hour drive to see Tony's home games.
"My linemates have been great," said Calderone. "Cooper has been great about getting me the puck, and Dexter gives us awesome work down low doing the hard stuff. So, a lot of my goals aren't pretty. I'm just sitting there, and I put it home. They do a lot of work that goes unnoticed. But I'm there to finish, and that's nice."
