The Utah Hockey Club has a slew of up-and-coming NHL talent. And in this major feature from The Hockey News’ May 23, 2022 edition (Volume 75, Issue 15), top prospect Logan Cooley was put under the spotlight by writer Jared Clinton.
(And this is our friendly reminder to you: for access to THN’s exclusive archive, visit http://THN.com/Free and subscribe to our magazine.) Cooley had a solid rookie NHL season in 2023-24, posting 20 goals and 44 points in 82 games with the Arizona Coyotes. The 20-year-old center – the ‘Yotes’ first-round pick (third overall) in 2022 – showed flashes of brilliance this past season, and much is expected of him, especially now that the franchise has relocated to Utah. And the people who saw him up close as he ascended the ranks of elite prospects say it’s Cooley’s creativity and vision that sets him apart. “That’s what I was always amazed with – OK, I remember (Cooley’s) goal, but how did that goal get set up?’”, said Brian Mueller, who coached the under-16 team Cooley played on. “And there were so many times where it was like, ‘Holy cow, he set that goal up 10 seconds before we actually scored.’ It’s those subtle little plays that if he didn’t do that or see the play before it was going to happen, the play would have been dead. That’s where I really took an appreciation for what he does and what he can do.”
Now that Cooley has asserted himself as a bona fide NHL scoring threat, expectations on him will rise. But the Pittsburgh native seems well-prepared for the pressures that come with playing in hockey’s top league, and his all-around game makes him a dangerous young star. “When the draft comes here, teams are going to make decisions on guys and really the decision is, how can this guy help us win a Stanley Cup?” said Adam Nightingale, who coached Cooley in the USA Hockey National Team Development Program. “Logan is one of those guys. If I’m a team looking and I’m making a decision, I definitely think when you watch him play, this is a guy that helps us win because he does play 200 feet.”
Let’s talk about the Invisible Gorilla. In 1999, researchers Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris set out to study inattentional blindness, the phenomenon of failing to perceive something happening in plain sight. In doing so, the pair conceived of the Invisible Gorilla Test. In a 24-second clip, two three-person teams, separated into black and white shirts, passed a basketball to teammates while bobbing and weaving around each other. The study tasked participants with watching the clip and counting the white team’s passes.
The majority of those who participated correctly counted the 15 passes. What roughly half of those participants missed, however, was the person in a gorilla suit passing directly through the frame. Upon rewatching the clip, of course, the gorilla’s cameo is clear as day. But, hey, you’re looking for it.
In a sense, that experience – that how-didn’t-I-see-it befuddlement – is akin to watching Logan Cooley’s game tape. Just ask Brian Mueller, the executive director of hockey development and programming for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite program. Mueller was behind the bench as an underaged and undersized Cooley dazzled against players one year his senior, playing for the U-16 team in 2019-20. Often, Mueller only saw Cooley’s true brilliance when rewatching the games on video. “That’s what I was always amazed with,” Mueller said. “‘OK, I remember the goal, but how did that goal get set up?’ And there were so many times where it was like, ‘Holy cow, he set that goal up 10 seconds before we actually scored.’ It’s those subtle little plays that if he didn’t do that or see the play before it was going to happen, the play would have been dead. That’s where I really took an appreciation for what he does and what he can do.” Mueller isn’t alone in his assessment; just about anyone you ask will trumpet Cooley’s hockey IQ as his defining on-ice characteristic. Mueller, who coached big-league prospects such as Jack Drury, Jacob Pivonka and Spencer Stastney, said he has yet to come across another
youngster with a mind for the game quite like Cooley. Adam Nightingale, the bench boss of the U-18 squad for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, said the first thing he noticed upon joining the program two seasons ago was Cooley’s smarts. And Brent Darnell – a former NTDP assistant coach and now assistant director of player personnel – made it sound as though catching Cooley out of position is about as rare as spotting Bigfoot.
