Devin Cooley will continue in Calgary for years to come. The 28-year-old goaltender agreed with the Flames on a two-year contract extension with an average annual salary of $1.35 million, and the club confirmed its confidence in the goaltending duo, which has significantly contributed to the team’s improved performance this year.
Until a few months ago, Cooley’s future in the NHL did not look certain at all. He himself admits today that his career was on the edge in the fall and the help of the organization’s goalkeeping department played a crucial role. The farm team’s goalkeeper coach Mackenzie Skapski has the biggest share in this.
“Skapski basically saved my career and I honestly owe him Rolexes now,” Cooley laughed at the signing. “I told him that if I ever signed a bigger contract, I would buy him a watch. He recently wrote to me that he wanted the most expensive one in the world. I told him that he would get a basic Rolex and he would love it.”
The native of Los Gatos, California, has always had ideal physical parameters, he is almost two meters tall, but for a long time he was unable to use his athletic frame to the full. The turning point came only when the Flames significantly structured his game.
“I told them straight up: I need help,” Cooley described. “Every year I felt I had the talent, but it just didn’t work. They showed me specific things I needed to work on, and once we got down to it, everything fell into place. That’s why I wanted to stay here. I know my style of play fits exactly what they want in goalies here.”
He came to the organization last year as a project with no draft history. He quickly worked his way up to All-Star goalie status in the AHL before a concussion cut short his season. He got a chance to compete for the No. 2 spot behind Dustin Wolf this year, but a poor camp meant coaches were hesitant to use him at first.
“That’s the story of my entire career,” he admitted candidly. “Two years ago I was left out of the AHL, four years ago I was a catcher in the ECHL. I was the third goaltender in college, I didn’t even go on trips. In junior high I finished last in the USHL goaltending statistics. I was always a late riser and always believed in myself, even when others didn’t see it. I honestly don’t wonder about them, I had a lot of bad times. But it taught me to focus on myself and keep working.”
This year, his role in the NHL is already fixed. In 13 games, he has an average of 2.40 goals conceded, a success rate of 91.4 percent, and the Flames can rely on a stable tandem with Dustin Wolf until at least the 2027/28 season.
General manager Craig Conroy emphasized that the interplay between the two goalkeepers was one of the main reasons for the contract extension. “It’s a terribly important position and you want stability in it,” he explained. “You need goalies to root for each other and pull together. You can see with these two that they’re really friends. Devin was pushing Wolf early in the season, then Wolf got going and it’s been working.”
Cooley himself admits that the relationship with Wolf is crucial for him. “Goalkeepers understand each other the best. No one else quite understands what we’re going through,” he says. “Wolfie is one of my best teammates. I always feel like he’s my biggest fan when I’m catching, and I feel the same way.”
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