Calgary Flames goalie Devin Cooley makes plea for overtime rule change
Calgary Flames goaltender Devin Cooley is stating his case for the NHL to implement a new rule in overtime.
The 28-year-old has been one of the league’s best stories in what is his rookie season. Through 27 appearances, he sports an impressive 2.51 GAA along with a .915 SV% and a 9-9-5 record.
Cooley continued his excellent play on Thursday night, kicking aside 30 of the 33 shots he faced. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, as the Anaheim Ducks were able to walk away with a 3-2 overtime victory.
The loss stung for Cooley, who was beaten with just one second remaining in overtime on what was Mikael Granlund’s third goal of the night. Though not happy with the result, the always positive Cooley discussed an overtime rule change he would like to see implemented to help make 3-on-3 hockey more exciting.
“I think they should make the rule where you should not be able to go back over the red line just to force it a little bit,” Cooley said. “I think that’d be more entertaining.”
Almost as if he were going through the ramifications in his head while saying it, Cooley, realizing that such a rule could negatively impact goalie stats, dropped another solution.
“I don’t think it’d be good for goalies. Probably be bad for my stats, so maybe they should have a separate category for overtime stats. I think that would be better.”
This is a rule change many have been calling for in recent years, as teams have implemented regrouping strategies in overtime, which has taken away from the excitement 3-on-3 hockey first had.
Whether it’s something that comes to fruition remains to be seen, though having players like Cooley voice it publicly doesn’t hurt. It would certainly create offence, which the NHL is always trying to achieve. And, though it would make things more difficult for goaltenders, it appears that at least some of them would be on board.
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