346 Parents: Devin Cooley Gets it Right
In the Parent Segment, presented by Stop it Goaltending U the App, we build on a recent post-game interview with Devin Cooley of the Calgary Flames and revisit the importance of finding wins within the game regardless of results.
- Devin Cooley reached the NHL at 28 after years in the ECHL and AHL, proving late development is a legitimate path for goaltenders.
- Cooley actively studied philosophy, neuroscience, and psychology to rewire how he responded to bad gamesu2014a concrete mental skills strategy any goalie can begin.
- Goalie parents can use Cooley's post-game interview as a real example of what healthy process-over-results thinking sounds like out loud.
- Signing a two-year NHL extension after years of uncertainty validates the message: showing up consistently and doing the mental work compounds over time.
- Finding wins within a game regardless of the final score is a skill goaltenders must be taughtu2014and parents play a role in modeling that mindset after every game.
PARENT PLAYBOOK — “What a Pro Sounds Like”
INTRO
Hey, goalie parents. Welcome to the Parent Playbook.
I want to start this week by talking about Devin Cooley.
If you follow the Calgary Flames, you know the name. But let me give you the full picture, because the backstory matters.
Devin Cooley went undrafted TSN out of college. He signed his first pro deal and spent his early years in the ECHL and grinding through the AHL— Nashville’s system, Buffalo’s system, a cup of coffee with San Jose. He is 28 years old, from Los Gatos, California. And this season — for the first time in his career — he started the year on an NHL roster.
That’s not a quick rise. That is years of showing up, doing the work, and refusing to let the game tell him his answer was no.
He’s talked openly about how the mental side of the game held him back for most of his career — how a bad game would send him somewhere dark, and how hard it was to climb out of that hole. And he did something about it. He started reading — about a book a week — philosophy, neuroscience, psychology — trying to understand how his brain works and how he wanted to respond to adversity.
And it paid off. He was named an AHL All-Star this past season. He won the backup job in Calgary in a competitive training camp. And just a few weeks ago, the Flames signed him to a two-year extension. At 28. After years of people probably wondering if the NHL was ever going to happen for him.
I talk a lot on these segments about separating process from results. About finding meaning in the work rather than just the scoreboard. And I know that can sometimes feel like advice that’s easy to give and hard to model for your kid.
So this week, I want to play you a clip of Devin Cooley talking after a win. I want you to listen to what he’s excited about. Because it’s not what most people would expect from a guy who just got to the NHL after a very long road to get there.
OUTRO
Did you catch that?
He won. And yes — he says it — “that was amazing.” But then he immediately goes somewhere else. What actually lit him up was his puck play. His pole check. His shootout. The specific things he’d been grinding on in practice that finally clicked in a game.
He even tells the story about calling his shot before the game — telling his defenceman my passes have been hot, there are going to be no turnovers tonight — and then laughing about how the last time he said that, he turned it over twice immediately.
That self-awareness. That ability to try something, fail at it, be honest about it, and come back and try it again without letting the embarrassment stop you — that is the mental skill. And that’s exactly what he spent years quietly building.
Here’s the thing I want you to sit with. Devin Cooley is in the NHL right now. He still has things he’s been missing in practice. He still has skills he hasn’t nailed yet. And when one of them finally works in a real game — that’s the moment that feels like a win to him.
That’s what it looks like when the process becomes the point.
So the next time your goalie has a rough game, ask them: what were you working on tonight? Not how many they let in. Not the score. What were they working on — and did they get a chance to try it?
If they can answer that question, they’re doing it right. Just like Devin Cooley.
See you next week.
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