KG
Registered User
- Sep 23, 2010
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Are we at all concerned this kid has only played 40 games the last two years excluding the WJC?
now this is a quality post
now this is a quality post
I count 81 games this year and 79 last year?Are we at all concerned this kid has only played 40 games the last two years excluding the WJC?
now this is a quality post
Don’t double-count the GP on elite prospects for NTDP kids. One is USHL and the other is USHL AND NCAA games combined. It’s confusing. But you don’t need to add them.I count 81 games this year and 79 last year?
It was a mild surprise to some draft analysts and fans that the Coyotes chose Cooley over Shane Wright, the long presumed top pick who dropped all the way to No. 4 and Seattle. When asked how he differentiated between the two, Armstrong noted their contrasting styles.
“Wright’s a really good player in the sense that he can shoot a puck,” Armstrong said, ‘where Cooley is more of a skater and pushing the pace and he plays a little bit faster. He’s more, for me, a puck mover. He makes people better around him.
“He’s a very determined kid. He is on the puck. I think that’s one of his greatest attributes is just how he’s got an engine.”
Cooley had 75 points combined between the U18 and juniors (USHL) teams this past season. He will more than likely spend next season at the University of Minnesota with Arizona product Matthew Knies after initially committing to Notre Dame, but it was at the NTDP where Cooley said his game truly blossomed.
“I think it’s just how hard they push you there,” he said. “You just focus on hockey every day. Practices are two hours, workouts are two hours long. When you’re on the ice, you’re battling against the best kids in the country. You can’t go anywhere else and do that. In the weight room, they push you hard. We work out every day for two hours and with all the resources you have there it’s like no other place around.”
Cooley’s size (5-10½) will be a knock on his potential until he proves otherwise, but the Pittsburgh native embraced his skill set long ago when finally gave up on the idea of emulating his childhood idol, Alex Ovechkin, and gave in to a style of play that vaulted him all the way to No. 3 pick at the 2022 NHL Draft.
“I don’t even know how it started, to be honest,” he said, laughing. “I just loved Ovechkin. I’d watch his highlights and stuff, just the way he celebrated when he scored goals. I just fell in love with watching him and he turned me into a Capitals fan. I always rooted for them against the Pens. It was kind of funny and I got a lot of hate for it.
“It’s kind of funny now because I think it’s fair to say that I’m the complete opposite of Ovechkin.”
Hayton has not worked out and needs to be moved before the rest of the teams realize it.
Even without Matthews imo Geekie is great insurance in case Hayton doesn't work out. And BA gets his 6'4" monster who can hit. Great pick BA!
Yeah Wights attitude and actions during his interviews and at the draft ..kind of turned me off to him…
I was actually worried when he fell to us… finally great to have a GM that picks the “Marner over Strome” ( bad analogy)
thinking if we had won the lottery , we would have traded down from 1
on a side note ..some had mentioned 5 prospects were taken out to dinner by the Yotes , and one of them kept texting the Coyotes executive’s daughter.. I wonder who that would have been ?
Or was he staring at the camera for a picture with Bettman?Yep, the stare down to the Montreal table was embarrassing, shows lack of maturity. Be humble kid and work hard...remember, it's not where you start but where you finish.
Nope, take a look at the tape, he was taking pics w/Bettman, then turned and stared then smiled again for another picture taker w/Bettman then again turned and stared down the Montreal groupOr was he staring at the camera for a picture with Bettman?
Slav did as well but it didn't seem to bother me lie it did with Wright ... I absolutely love Slav's peronality.. kind of reminds me of OviOne thing I don’t like about Wright was he kept saying he deserved to be taken first. I don’t know if that’s confidence or entitlement but it rubbed me the wrong way.
yup bit of an attitude for sureNope, take a look at the tape, he was taking pics w/Bettman, then turned and stared then smiled again for another picture taker w/Bettman then again turned and stared down the Montreal group
I hope Montreal took another Wickenheiser instead of Savard.
Nope. We had him 2nd. Slafkovsky was #1.Safe to say we had Cooley at 1 on our list?