In pressure-packed moments, Devin Cooley apparently has a morbid reminder playing on a loop in his head.
That was the revelation Wednesday after Cooley backstopped the Calgary Flames to a 6-2 rout against the Buffalo Sabres. It marked his first victory in the Flaming C logo, and just the third of his NHL career.
Calgary’s backup netminder has had very little offensive support so far this season, which explains why he was asked during a post-game scrum about what he was thinking when his teammates started to fill the net in the third period at KeyBank Center.
His reply will do nothing to dispel the notion that goaltenders can be a little quirky. The video will surely go viral.
“You really have to ground yourself,” said the 28-year-old Cooley, who won the Flames’ backup job during training camp and has a superb stat-line in four starts so far this season. “So I just … I think I’ve said this before, but I just go like, ‘Nothing matters. Nobody cares. We’re all gonna die.’ I just say that over and over and over again so that way, I don’t get too excited.
“Because as soon as I started getting too excited and I’m like, ‘Oh, this could be it! This could be the win! We’re playing really well!’ then I’ll start doing stupid stuff and I’ll give up dumb goals because I’m being stupid.
“So if I just keep repeating those words over and over again, it just grounds me and I can really just stay in the moment and not get too excited.”
It worked in Buffalo.
With the victory, Cooley improved to 1-2-1 on the season. In limited action as Dustin Wolf’s second-stringer, he has posted a 1.80 goals-against average and .935 save percentage.
“I think his play overall this year has been really good for us,” Flames coach Ryan Huska told reporters after the blowout victory in Buffalo. “He’s given us a chance every time he’s been in the net. So I’m happy for him. It’s nice to see him finally get the win.”