Calm, Cool(ey), Collected
Truman Bartman, Contributor
When 28-year-old goaltender Devin Cooley takes the ice, fans see him as one of the American Hockey League’s (AHL) premier puck stoppers. But behind his white pads and fiery mask, Cooley is not only tasked with being in top physical shape but, more importantly for him, being at the top of his game mentally.
Cooley spent the 2024-25 season with the Calgary Wranglers in hopes of eventually becoming a member of the Calgary Flames. During his first season with the Wranglers, Cooley recorded a 2.94 goals against average, along with collecting 21 wins and a playoff berth. Part of achieving these numbers for Cooley was his ability to be in command of the emotions that come with being a professional goaltender.
“You can’t let your emotions get too high,” Cooley said. “You can’t get too much adrenaline rush, because then you start making stupid plays, and maybe you start forcing things.”
At the beginning of last season, Cooley felt like he was in a great space, and his play reflected that, helping him earn his first AHL All-Star nomination.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for Cooley, as he felt his play began to slip as the season progressed.
“I started moving before the puck was even shot, and I began to create all this chaos for myself,” Cooley said. “I was very chill at the beginning of the year, in the first half of the year, and then I started to become more and more of a perfectionist and expect success every single night. I started to chase the game a little bit more.”
When a player gets into a slump, it can seem impossible to recover, especially at the highest levels. For a goalie as composed as Cooley, many on the outside may assume that bringing yourself out of a slump is simple, but for him, it was far from it.
“I felt the pressure keep piling and piling and piling, and then all of a sudden, I’m playing like a totally different goalie, and all of a sudden, I can’t stop a puck,” Cooley said. “I couldn’t figure out what was going on, and I realized that over time, I was just putting more and more pressure on myself, and I was stressed out all the time. I was stressed out away from the rink. I just wasn’t really enjoying what I was doing, and I couldn’t bring my mental state to a calm medium.”
The turning point for Cooley began with his realization that things were off. He had hit a major roadblock that eventually acted as a turning point for him. It was after a loss to the Bakersfield Condors that Cooley found himself regaining his confidence.
“I kind of hit just like a rock bottom where I was just like, ‘I have no more emotions to give; I have no more energy,” Cooley said.
“Going into our next game against Tucson (Roadrunners), I was like, I just don’t care. I don’t care anymore. I told myself from that point on that I was going to get back to just not caring about anything and just playing from a zen state.”
Cooley’s plan of attack worked in his favour, finding not only a zen state against the Roadrunners but also finding his game again. The next game, he did the exact same thing and put together another stellar performance against the Ontario Reign.
“I was like, ‘holy crap,’ this is so much better, it’s unreal,” Cooley said. “And then today, it was even better than that. I think that’s where I am going to find the most success—by continually doing just that.”
As the 2025-26 AHL season approaches, Cooley is set to rejoin the Calgary Wranglers, looking to continue his success from a season ago. But more importantly, the Californian keeper will be focused on finding his zen state and a calm medium within his game.
In a sport where ups and downs are inevitable, Cooley’s 2024-25 season illustrates that, regardless of how low things are at any point, finding some peace of mind can help you rediscover what it takes to return to being Cool(ey) under pressure.
