Devin Cooley

When the San Jose Sharks acquired Devin Cooley at the NHL Trade Deadline on March 8, 2024, they were bringing home a native son. Cooley was born in Los Gatos, California, and grew up rooting for the very team he was joining — a detail that gave his first NHL win an added dimension, with family and friends in the crowd at SAP Center to witness it.

Cooley arrived in the NHL undrafted and at 26, a path that Colin Hodd traced in detail in a 2026 InGoal article examining the mindset philosophy that has since followed the goaltender into viral fame ^[1]. His debut came against the Chicago Blackhawks, and his first NHL victory arrived in his third appearance — a 34-save effort in an overtime win over the St. Louis Blues. The game after that, he made 49 saves on 50 shots in a 3-1 win over Seattle against his one-time USHL playing partner and long-time friend Joey Daccord. The game after that, he allowed eight goals on 22 shots against Edmonton. The arc of those four appearances captured, in compressed form, the career Cooley had spent years preparing for.

He finished that partial 2023-24 season with the Sharks having appeared in six games, going 2-3 with a 4.98 goals-against average and an .870 save percentage. After becoming an unrestricted free agent, Cooley signed with the Calgary Flames organization. His first season with their AHL affiliate produced a milestone: he was named an AHL All-Star for the first time, and in November 2024 was named AHL Player of the Week after posting a pair of shutouts and a .976 save percentage across four appearances, running his record at that point to 8-2-0 with a .954 save percentage.

Cooley entered the 2025-26 season as Calgary's backup to Dustin Wolf and has since taken on a considerably larger share of the workload. Through 31 appearances, he carries a 10-10-6 record with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage — both marks representing a substantial improvement over his San Jose numbers. His career NHL totals across 37 games stand at 12 wins, 13 losses, 7 overtime losses, a 3.03 goals-against average, and a .902 save percentage. He wears number 1 for Calgary and stands 6-foot-5, catching left.

The "nothing matters" phrase that Cooley has repeated in post-game settings — "Nothing matters. Nobody cares. We're all going to die." — has circulated well beyond hockey audiences. InGoal's Colin Hodd examined why that philosophy functions as a practical tool for goaltenders, tracing it through Cooley's early NHL experiences and the mindset work behind them ^[1]. Cooley has also put the phrase to charitable use, selling sweatshirts bearing the words to raise money for charity.

His first appearance on InGoal Radio — Episode 253 of the podcast, recorded after his Sharks stint in 2024 — drew from that same reservoir. Cooley told host David Hutchison: "If you're not willing to look stupid or fail, nothing good is ever going to happen to you. Uncertainty is the root of all progress and all growth. If you have control, there is no experience" ^[2]. The full conversation, including the context around those quotes and the story of his first NHL games, is available in that episode ^[2].

A Parent Segment on InGoal Radio captured Cooley after a win with Calgary, talking through what had actually excited him — not just the result, but three specific technical things he had been working on: puck play, poke checks, and shootouts. "I kept telling everyone," he said. "One of these days, I'm gonna be good in the shootout and then one of these days, I'm gonna have no turnovers. I actually told my D today, I came in the locker room right before the game. I was like, 'D, my passes have been hot'" ^[3]. David Hutchison's full take on what that moment says about Cooley's approach is available in that segment ^[3].

InGoal Magazine has covered Devin Cooley in one podcast appearance, one Parent Segment, eleven Pro Reads, and two InGoal articles. The Pro Reads series — developed by Kevin Woodley from an extended video session recorded after Cooley's time in San Jose — runs from his NHL debut saves through rush reads, reverse-VH decisions, 2-on-1 management, 4-on-3 penalty kills, and overtime scenarios. Across eleven installments ^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]}, Cooley breaks down his own reads, habits, and the specific flaws he continues to work on — all available to InGoal subscribers. A separate Pro Tips piece ^[15] focused on a specific technique Cooley says he developed over two full seasons: using his head to seal the short-side high corner in reverse-VH, a save selection he had not seen other goalies use at the time. "I seal with my head and because of the height it takes the entire angle away," he explained. "There's nothing to shoot at" ^[15].

His one-time USHL playing partner Daccord, now with Seattle, appears in several of the Pro Reads clips — a recurring detail that frames where Cooley's path started and how long the road to the NHL ran before the Sharks called his name at the 2024 deadline.