Devin Cooley has spent a fortnight becoming the most quotable man in hockey, explaining that he survives games by switching his conscious brain off, that the past is dead and there is nothing for you there, and that he teaches himself linear algebra for fun because he doesn’t want to lose the art of learning.
On Wednesday in Edmonton, Colton Dach crashed into him with twelve seconds left in the first period. Cooley finished the frame, then Dustin Wolf came out for the second and the Calgary Flames announced a lower-body injury.
His response arrived on Instagram, and it was entirely in character.
“Injuries suck but I’m a very fast healer. Can’t wait to be back and what a great opportunity to reset physically, mentally, and find ways to gain an edge in my game off the ice so I can come back even better than before,” Cooley wrote. “Sometimes what we don’t ever want to happen could end up being exactly what we need.”
Then he signed off with a line from Marcus Aurelius.
“And why should I feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice.”
Devin Cooley’s season before the injury:
| Category | Total |
|---|---|
| Record | 4-2-0 |
| Goals-against average | 2.67 |
| Save percentage | .915 |
How long will Devin Cooley be out?
Ryan Huska had nothing to offer on that after the game, and the club has put no timeline on it. What is clear is how badly the timing lands.
Cooley had won each of his previous four starts with a .955 save percentage, and was named the NHL’s second star of the week on Monday after stopping 66 of 68 shots across two of them. Two days later he was watching the second period from the dressing room.
READ MORE: What Jack Hughes did after losing a tooth says it all
The 29-year-old from Los Gatos, California has worked his way up through Nashville, Buffalo and San Jose to this point, having been Calgary’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded for perseverance.
Dach took a two-minute minor for goaltender interference on the play. Calgary lost 3-0, their first shutout of the season, which ended a four-game winning run. Brennan Othmann also left the game with an upper-body injury.
Wolf, the man who takes over, was the starter Cooley had been deputizing for in the first place.
Read more:
