So far as I could see, and as the NHL reports in its official play-by-play, the Flames did not throw a hit on Dach the rest of the game. No Flames player fought him, even as later in the game Dach got tangled up in a Flames defender and drove into Calgary’s goalie, this time Dustin Wolf.<\/p>\n
I can’t recall ever seeing such a tepid, non-aggressive reaction from a team to their goalie getting run and knocked out of a game. Most often in hockey, such a reckless and injurious play leads to on-going slashing, hitting, bashing and challenges to fights. But there was none of that from the Flames.<\/p>\n
The second strange thing came the following day from Cooley himself, but this was strange in an admirable way. Rather than being upset and bitter about Dach’s play, Cooley reframed the injury as a positive in his life, and shared some admirable stoic advice with the rest of us.<\/p>\n
On his Instagram account, Cooley said, “Injuries suck but I’m a very fast healer! Can’t wait to be back and what a great opportunity to reset physically, mentally, and find ways to gain an edge in my game off the ice so I can come back even better than before. Sometimes what we don’t ever want to happen could end up being exactly what we need!”<\/p>\n
He added, “And why should we feel anger at the world? As if the world would notice.”<\/p>\n
One other fascinating moment came in the aftermath came in the post-game interview, when Oilers coach Mike Babcock praised Dach for his aggressive play, then went into a Babcockian dissertation on the nature of successful NHL players.<\/p>\n
“I thought Dacher played real well tonight,” Babcock told reporters. “Thought he was a huge factor. Was in front of the net on the second goal. He was heavy. He was physical. Spent time in the o-zone, and gives that line another dimension. And that’s great news for me and for the team. If you can have another Hyman or Podkolzin, and Dach makes us a way better team.”<\/p>\n
Edmonton sports radio host Reid Wilkins then asked Babcock, “So I was going to ask you about Dach, and I mean, he expressed obviously he’s not happy about the injury. But you’ve used the term I think ‘climbing on the other team’s goalie.’ Is he sort of leading the way with that? And are you hoping more guys can follow suit?”<\/p>\n
Babcock then made reference to Oilers players Zach Hyman, Vasily Podkolzin and Connor Murphy in relation to Dach: “Well, I mean, obviously, Hymes and Podzy lead the way with that, and then he’s trying to become that. I think I said it earlier today: If you look at Murph, you look at Hymes, you look at Podzy, they’ve identified who they are, and then they try to be the best version of themselves. Lots of guys haven’t figured out who they are, and they’re trying to be someone they’re not. The best way to have success in this game is to figure out who you are, and then to bring it every single day, and to enjoy the monotony of doing it over and over again. And then you become a real good player.”<\/p>\n
Devin Cooley<\/p>\n My take<\/p>\n 1. I can’t say what astonished me more, Calgary’s lack of aggressive response during the game or Cooley’s stoic reframing of the incident after the game.<\/p>\n Perhaps between periods Cooley told his teammates to chill out about the whole thing, as there was still a game to win. Who knows? But Cooley is most assuredly an admirably focused and cool cucumber.<\/p>\n It’s interesting how often stoic philosophy comes up now but it’s no surprise. We live in a social media world where we’re all in each other’s faces all the time. We know more about the opinions of other people now than we ever knew before. We can see a dozen opinions that upset us within a few minutes of firing up our phones in the morning.<\/p>\n In the face of such distraction and noise, stoicism is a useful philosophy. It focuses on the need to shut out noise, to put little or no weight in the opinion of people that we would never in a million years take advice from, and to be calm in a world where folks are trying feverishly, even angrily, to enlist us in their own drama, their own causes.<\/p>\n Cooley is right that it will make no difference in the wide world if he vents and fumes about his injury, as reckless as Dach might well have been. How would it help him to get upset and angry?<\/p>\n Instead, he’s focusing on using the time off to come back better. He’s focused on the next thing he has to do to succeed in his journey through pro sports, which is a recipe for success.<\/p>\n 2. As for Babcock’s thoughts on becoming a good player, it’s just one of the many gems he’s shared in the short time he’s been an Oilers coach. Perhaps we’ll get tired of his act. Perhaps if the team starts losing, his nuggets of wisdom won’t sound so wise.<\/p>\n For now, though, I’m loving his attitude and appreciating him sharing his hockey knowledge with the rest of us.<\/p>\n For any hockey player, there’s plenty to mull over in this latest description of what it takes to succeed as a player.<\/p>\n To repeat:\u00a0“The best way to have success in this game is to figure out who you are, and then to bring it every single day, and to enjoy the monotony of doing it over and over again. And then you become a real good player.”<\/p>\n At the Cult of Hockey<\/p>\n Why the Edmonton Oilers could well trade for hockey’s biggest tough guy<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Devin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/edmonton_journal_articles_165\/f74afeac1a93a661c05870ac63d41503.jpg\"\/)
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