ST. Paul — If you were only going to spend one winter in Minnesota, this would have been the best choice. As the Ides of March approaches, snow blowers rust and ice fishing gear lies tangled and unused. Even if you are lucky enough to have a winter break, there is a very good chance that it was colder in St. Petersburg than in St. Petersburg.
Conversely, the winter of 2022-2023 was generally miserable across Minnesota. Well, with one exception. Inside Mariucci's 3M Arena, a fun six-month ride took place, but outside the rink's front door, bad weather raged.
Last season's Gophers were one of the most talented teams in the more than 100-year history of the U of M men's program. In February 2022, they already had Matthew Nice on their roster, and when Logan Cooley posted the Goldie Gopher logo on his Instagram, they also brought in Jimmy Snuggerd, who eventually signed up for college hockey. It laid the foundation for what would become the most dangerous line in the world.
Drafted third overall by the Arizona Coyotes in June 2022, Cooley had two goals and one assist in his collegiate debut. Two games later, Snagerd had scored a hat trick. Before some people took down their Christmas decorations, the Gophers won his 2023 Big Ten title and Knies was named his MVP of the conference. The day before the heartbreaking overtime collapse at the Frozen Four in Tampa, Knies and Cooley were interviewed at the Hobey Baker Award Ceremony as two of the top three players in college hockey, but the trophy was later awarded to Michigan. It was handed to Adam Fantilli, the state's scoring sensation.
Minnesota's Logan Cooley celebrates his second-period goal against St. Cloud State during the NCAA Fargo Regional Championship Game on Thursday, March 23, 2023, at Shields Arena.
David Samson/The Forum
Forty-eight hours after the Gophers' long, quiet return home from Florida, Knies appeared on the NHL's line chart and Snageld almost immediately announced he would return to the United States for a second season. Cooley took his time and announced in May that he, too, would be returning to Minnesota for a second season with unfinished business in mind. The unspoken implication was that winning a sixth NCAA title for the Gophers and a fifth for Hovey was on the “to-do” list for the soft-spoken kid from Pittsburgh. It was said that it was listed in the.
By midsummer, the mercury had risen to 115 degrees in Scottsdale when Cooley arrived in Arizona for his second Coyotes development camp. There, he got a taste of his new life in the NHL and made a push to sign with the Coyotes within the next month instead of the following year.
By the time Cooley boarded a plane and headed home to Pittsburgh, he was being treated like a celebrity, throwing out the first pitch at an Arizona Diamondbacks game and spending time with Coyotes up-and-coming forward Clayton Keller. Ta. He spent one season at Boston University before turning to professional hockey. Cooley was interviewed on the final day of development camp, and for the first time he spoke to the university about “if,” not “when.”
Less than a month later, Cooley signed an NHL contract and his college career was over.
Mark J. Revillas/USA TODAY Sports (via Reuters)
He quickly joined the NHL team's lineup and produced highlight-reel plays, starting with a preseason trip to various parts of Australia. During a visit to Tempe in October, the Coyotes played (hopefully temporarily) at a college rink with less than half the capacity of the Gophers' home ice, where Cooley has historically struggled. It quickly became clear that this was the team's signature attraction. Both at the ticket office and on the ice. Cooley's face adorned giant posters outside and inside Mallett's arena, and replicas of his jersey were sold at every merchandise stand.
he had a good season. Good, not great. He showed flashes of brilliance, sometimes drawing the ire of Coyotes coaches for rookie mistakes. At a practice in late November, when the Coyotes were still looking like playoff contenders, a friend in Arizona who covers the team gave a frank assessment. Cooley likely spent time at the team's AHL affiliate in Tucson, as his game wasn't quite ready for the NHL, and it was a good idea for him to build confidence at lower levels of the game. will bring great benefits to.
“Crazy idea…” I said with a sarcastic laugh. “…But what about keeping him in Minnesota for another year to build his confidence in college hockey?”
As of New Year's Day, the Coyotes were 19-14-2 and firmly in contention for one of the Western Conference's eight playoff spots. Since then, they are 7-21-3 (after a 4-1 loss to the Wild in St. Paul on Tuesday night) and will almost certainly miss the playoffs for the 11th time in the past 12 seasons.
There is talk of building a new NHL-sized rink in Scottsdale. There is also talk of moving to Salt Lake City or Houston. This is normal. Since moving from Winnipeg to Phoenix in 1996, there has been no shortage of drama surrounding the future of the franchise.
As for Cooley, he's a Coyote and a great guy. On Tuesday morning, after most of the team boarded buses to hotels in suburban St. Paul, Cooley received pass after pass from assistant coaches on the still-empty Xcel Energy Center ice, making sure no one was around. He was firing shots one after another toward the center, which was not there. Net, choose a different corner each time. With his talent and drive, he will undoubtedly develop into an exemplary player and make untold amounts of money in Arizona (or Utah, Texas depending on the outcome of the stadium game).
Still, Tuesday was Cooley's last game in Minnesota this season. He won't be on the ice Saturday when the Gophers play Michigan in a Big Ten playoff game. He wasn't there this season as the Gophers' good team fought for its third straight conference title but fell just short. He will not be participating in the NCAA playoffs, where he is aiming for a third consecutive Frozen appearance. They won't be on the same ice sheet in St. Paul in April when Minnesota fields one of the top teams in the nation. And he won't be there on Friday, the fourth week of Frozen in St. Paul, when the 2024 Hobby will be named.
It was clear that Cooley was ready to compete in the NHL, if not quite good yet. But college hockey fans in the state are still allowed to imagine what might have been if Cooley had spent one more season in the Big Ten.
It wasn't just the cozy, mild Minnesota winters that he missed.
Jess Myers covers college hockey, the outdoors, all sports and travel for The Rink Live and Forum Communications family of publications. He came to the FCC in 2018 after 30 years covering sports as a freelancer for various publications while working full time in politics and media relations. Myers, a native of Warroad, Minnesota (actual Hockeytown USA), holds a degree in Journalism/Communications from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He lives in the Twin Cities. Email Jess at jrmyers@forumcomm.com or find him on Twitter @JessRMyers. someone who speaks English.
