Friends, at this point, very little you could tell us about Calgary Flames goaltender Devin Cooley would surprise us.

A product of Los Gatos, California, hardly a hockey hotbed, Cooley has worked himself into a steady job as Dustin Wolf’s understudy in the Flames’ net through a lot of hard work and determination. For those qualities, he was voted the Calgary nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy by the local chapter of the Professional Hockey Writers Association.

One of the more unique and gregarious people in the sport, Cooley has a tremendous curiosity about the world, and he’s regularly reading several interesting books.

Last week, Cooley’s fiance, Natalie Weyers, posted a video on her TikTok feed revealing one of Cooley’s latest endevours: teaching himself linear algebra.

Cooley added a comment on a social media post about his interest in algebra to add some context: “Figured I would add some context: The goal is to see how far I can go in math before my brain says that’s enough haha. I dropped out of studying finance and computer science in college to play hockey and linear algebra is where I left off so that’s where I’ll start. Why am I doing this? I’m not really sure but I guess with how good AI is getting I don’t want to lose the art of learning and creating. Plus it’s a fun challenge!”

Cooley spent three seasons with the University of Denver Pioneers, from 2017-18 to 2019-20, before signing an entry-level contract with the Nashville Predators in Sept. 2020. From there, Cooley grinded his way towards steady NHL study, playing stretches in the ECHL and AHL, and a brief NHL stint in San Jose, before becoming a full-time big-leaguer last season with the Flames.

But Cooley has obviously not forgotten his college roots. And while many Flames fans – and their kids – head back to school as fall begins, Cooley is right there with you, hitting the books.

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