Among the parallels within the crease for the Calgary Wranglers are a bit eerie.
Hails from Northern California. Unheralded. At or close to the highest of the AHL’s goaltending charts. And carrying the Wranglers to the highest of the league standings.
Dustin Wolf is within the NHL with the Calgary Flames following among the best three-year stretches within the AHL’s 88th season. Devin Cooley, Wolf’s successor and California counterpart, continues to be making an attempt to navigate that very same path to an NHL crease sometime. Regardless of a standout WHL profession with the Everett Silvertips, Wolf barely managed to get drafted. He went 4 spots from the underside of the 2019 NHL Draft to the Flames, the final goaltender taken that 12 months. Too small to ever have a lot of a profession so went the considering.
Turning professional with the Flames’ former AHL affiliate, the Stockton Warmth, in 2021-22, Wolf arrived having simply been named the WHL’s high goaltender in back-to-back seasons. He had received a gold medal representing america on the World Junior Championship. However return to February 2021. That’s when the Warmth had simply relocated to Calgary for the AHL’s abbreviated pandemic season. Because the WHL had not opened play but, Wolf had an opportunity to take a flip in web. That afternoon of Feb. 21, 2021 inside empty Scotiabank Saddledome, the Toronto Marlies bombarded Wolf with 5 objectives on 11 pictures and chased him eight minutes into the second interval.
Two nights later towards those self same Marlies, nevertheless, Wolf turned in a 36-save win. One other victory adopted earlier than Wolf needed to return to Everett. When the next fall arrived, he started to place collectively among the best single-season performances in league historical past. Main the league with 33 wins, he received spots on the AHL All-Rookie Staff, was an AHL First All-Star Staff choice, and captured the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award because the league’s high netminder as he took the Warmth to the Western Convention Finals.
2024 Calgary Wranglers vs San Jose Barracuda
A 12 months later with Flames prospects now full-time in Calgary enjoying because the Wranglers, Wolf carried the workforce to a first-place regular-season end, once more took the Bastien {hardware}, and added the Les Cunningham Award because the league’s most respected participant. That made the primary goaltender to be named AHL MVP since 2004.
For an encore in 2023-24, he divided his time between the Flames and Wranglers and put collectively one other standout physique of labor on the AHL degree whereas beginning to set up himself as somebody in a position to grow to be a full-time NHL choice in web. The Flames noticed sufficient to ship Jacob Markström to the New Jersey Devils this previous June and go together with a Wolf-Dan Vladar duo.
With Markström’s departure and Wolf’s promotion, nevertheless, the group wanted goaltending assist. In order that they turned to Cooley, a 27-year-old and somebody who had already handed by way of three AHL golf equipment earlier than signing a two-year cope with the Flames proper after free company opened July 1.
What had been Wolf’s AHL crease now belongs to Cooley, who comes from Los Gatos, Calif., simply south of San Jose and slightly greater than half-hour away from Wolf’s hometown of Gilroy. And if Wolf got here to the Calgary group needing to point out that he may grow to be far more than a seventh-round choose, he not less than had been drafted. Cooley was not. He cycled by way of the USHL, NAHL, and BCHL earlier than arriving in 2017 on the College of Denver, the place he spent three seasons however solely appeared in 32 video games being caught behind Tanner Jaillet, Filip Larsson, and Magnus Chrona.
He turned professional in 2020-21, going to the ECHL with the Florida Everblades. Then got here a leap as much as the Milwaukee Admirals, however first there was Connor Ingram, who was placing the final touches on his AHL profession in 2021-22 earlier than shifting to the NHL. A 12 months later with the Admirals, there was first-round choose Yaroslav Askarov’s arrival. So Cooley went to the Buffalo Sabres final season, however with the Sabres making an attempt to kind out their goaltending choices, Devon Levi’s ascent, and a crowded image with the Rochester Individuals, Cooley solely bought into 14 video games on the AHL degree. A commerce to the San Jose Sharks final March on the NHL commerce deadline gave Cooley an opportunity to salvage one thing from the season. The very modest return for the Sabres? A seventh-round choose.
By that time the Sharks had began to close the tip of an eventual 19-54-9 season. Nonetheless, Cooley made one thing of the deal that despatched him to his hometown workforce. The Sharks saved him on the NHL roster, and his NHL debut arrived March 17 at Chicago. Then got here his first NHL win April 6. An April 11 go to to Seattle introduced his best second, a 49-save evening that took the Sharks to a 3-1 win.
However with the Sharks engaged in a whole organizational overhaul, Cooley jumped to Calgary when that two-year provide got here following the season.
To this point it has been the correct determination. Measurement had been the knock towards Wolf earlier than he disproved these critiques. That was not a difficulty for the 6-foot-5 Cooley. However confidence? Consistency? An absence of enjoying time actually couldn’t have helped, both. These points problem loads of goaltenders making an attempt to interrupt by way of first as AHL regulars after which as candidates for NHL call-ups. He had by no means actually been the go-to choice for an AHL membership.
With Wolf on the NHL roster and Oskar Dansk, final 12 months’s different Wranglers goaltender, now with the San Diego Gulls, Cooley confronted no such roadblocks this season. The Flames introduced in Waltteri Ignatjew to spherical out their AHL goaltending, however he was somebody with simply 10 video games of SHL expertise coming into the season. The message got here clearly that Cooley can be head coach Trent Cull’s number-one in web.
Cooley has backed up that religion. His eight wins tie him for the AHL lead, and the Wranglers are atop the AHL as effectively at 11-3-0-0. They only sliced by way of an eight-game homestand, going 6-2-0-0. Cooley closed out that homestand final Sunday, taking down the Henderson Silver Knights with 26 saves in a 4-0 win for his third shutout this season; 4 nights earlier he had stopped the Bakersfield Condors with 22 saves in one other 4-0 determination.
Cooley is a goaltender who has began to determine – actually determine – the AHL, not altogether in contrast to what Wolf did beforehand. After final Sunday’s shutout, his post-game feedback to the media credited Wranglers goaltending coach Mackenzie Skapski for mapping out a plan, which incorporates self-evaluating his work in a post-game report. He cited puck-handling as a key focus space.
“It feels very nice,” Cooley stated by way of the workforce web site, complimenting the work his defenders have carried out in entrance of him. “I don’t suppose there was a single deflected purpose on me.”
That work final week — 81 stops on 83 pictures in 4 video games — made Cooley the newest Howies Hockey Tape/AHL Participant of the Week.
Subsequent up is a two-game cease in San Jose that opens Saturday. It is going to be an opportunity for Cooley to play his first-ever sport towards the Barracuda, one of many prime challengers to the Wranglers early on this season. They’ll see a goaltender with a .954 save share, one which places him second within the AHL. His 1.46 goals-against common is third-best total. Calgary may break open the Pacific Division race by as many as 10 factors on the Barracuda with two clear wins this weekend in San Jose.
With Askarov now starring for the Barracuda, a match-up of the 2 former Milwaukee companions could possibly be a deal with this weekend. That third shutout final weekend nudged Cooley one previous Askarov. After he picked up his Nov. 6 shutout towards the Condors, Cooley had joked with the Calgary media about that statistical competitors with one of many sport’s high prospects.
“I’ve bought to maintain battling as a result of I must outcompete him,” Cooley stated with fun by way of the workforce web site. “I would like bragging rights.”
How To Watch The AHL On FloHockey
The AHL is streaming on FloHockey and the FloSports app. Dwell video games, replays, highlights and breaking information additionally will probably be out there on each platforms.
NHL Prospect Protection On FloHockey
The very best, and most full, protection of the NHL minor league hockey and NHL Draft is discovered on FloHockey. Do not miss the newest new prospect guides, rankings and extra from Chris Peters and the FloHockey workers.
Watch ECHL, USHL, AHL And Extra On FloHockey
FloHockey is the streaming dwelling to among the greatest hockey leagues in North America, together with the ECHL and extra. Try the printed schedule to look at extra hockey.
