Devin Cooley had reporters cracking up with hilarious Calgary Flames stories
Calgary Flames goalie Devin Cooley has once again proved that he is one of the funniest players in the NHL right now.
The 28-year-old California native has gained a reputation over the course of his career as one of the best interviewees in hockey. Whether it’s a VR training regimen or his knack for coming up with hilarious, yet existential, mantras, Cooley seems to always find a way to stay interesting.
That was on full display on Saturday night, as the Flames goaltender appeared on the latest After Hours segment with Sportsnet’s Scott Oake and Eric Francis. Cooley’s stories had the two veteran reporters laughing up a storm on multiple occasions in the 23-minute interview.
Perhaps the most entertaining story was his talking about how nervous he used to be as a goalie, which led him to adopt a peculiar strategy as a kid.
“When I was a little kid, I used to pretend I was injured every time I got scored on and my mom would run on the ice and fight the referees,” Cooley said. “In my head, I was like if I pretend I’m injured then no one is gonna get upset with me for letting in the goal.”
Cooley doesn’t pretend to be injured after goals anymore, although he admitted he nearly did during a funny situation against the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier this month. Braydon Point beat Cooley across the crease and had an open net to score, but missed the net.
The Flames goalie admitted that he gave up on the play, thinking he had already been scored on, before the roar of the crowd made him realize the play was still going.
“Yeah, I did give up, I was like ‘Oh, that’s a goal,'” Cooley said while laughing. “I slipped out right there; it was awful. I told the coaches, I was like, ‘If they would’ve scored, I would’ve had to pretend I was injured’ because it kinda looks like I was injured there.
“It’s still ingrained in me. I’m really glad they didn’t score so I can laugh and joke about it, but man, that was rough.”
"If they would’ve scored, I would’ve had to pretend I was injured." 💀
Devin Cooley with the pure honesty on After Hours 🤣 pic.twitter.com/p3kiBljEvd
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 29, 2026
Cooley’s path to the NHL was a long one, having made his debut with his hometown San Jose Sharks in 2023-24 before then signing with the Flames organization in the summer of 2024. From there, he dominated the AHL and has now put up fantastic numbers in his first full NHL season.
He credited the Calgary Wranglers’ AHL goalie coach, Mackenzie Skapski, and even made a pact to get him a Rolex if Cooley managed to get a contract extension from the Flames. That happened this past December, but he admitted that there has been a bit of a disagreement on the pact.
Skapski texted Cooley after the deal, saying he wanted the most expensive Rolex, but Cooley pushed back.
“He hasn’t got one yet. I told him he has to wait until I start getting paid,” Cooley said. “He’s being a little bit greedy because at the time we were talking about $5+ million on a deal and I got $1.35 [million], which is still a pretty sweet deal, but he’s like ‘You still owe me that watch,’ and I’m like yeah, I’ll still get him the watch.”
Though Cooley has been magnificent for the Flames, he is still very much the backup to fellow California native Dustin Wolf. Though both goaltenders grew up fairly close together, Cooley did joke about Wolf leaving Northern California so quickly.
Nothing wrong with a little bit of friendly rivalry.
“He’s kinda a traitor in the Northern California parts,” Cooley said of Wolf. “Once he was like ‘Hey, well, I’m actually really good,’ he went down to Southern California, where, at the time, the hockey was a little bit better.
“I was never that good when I was a kid, so I was like, I wanna stay home and hang out.”
This hasn’t been a great season for the Flames, but having a guy like Cooley keeping things light has got to be helpful for not only his teammates but the fan base as well.