Invermere, British Columbia product Wade Dubielewicz set the American Hockey League record for the highest save percentage in a single season when he posted a .946 over 33 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers back in 2003-04.

Dubielewicz was a relatively unheralded (and undersized) goaltender who only appeared in 43 NHL games during his journeyman career, most notably clinching a surprise playoff berth for the New York Islanders back in 2007 with a dramatic shootout win. Despite his 5’10” stature, Dubielewicz posted strong numbers at almost every stage of his career and forced his way into the NHL in his 20s, even just for a while.

Well, through 11 games with the Calgary Wranglers this season, 27-year-old Devin Cooley currently boasts a staggering .954 save percentage to go along with his 8-2-0 record and three shutouts. He’s one of the biggest reasons why the Wranglers sit atop the AHL standings with 22 points and a +18 goal differential in 14 games. And he’s doing all this on a $400,000 minor-league salary, although that’ll jump up to $775,000 next year when his contract converts into a one-way deal.

On paper, Dubielewicz and Cooley are fascinating comparables. Although Cooley stands 6’5″, making him roughly seven inches taller than Dubielewicz, both goaltenders are BCHL alumni who parlayed their junior careers into scholarships at the University of Denver. But while Cooley’s gaudy AHL numbers may look similar to the ones Dubielewicz posted two decades ago, the Los Gatos, California product has followed a much different trajectory to reach this point — making his scorching start to the 2024-25 campaign all the more impressive.

For his part, Dubielewicz went on to become a legit star in the college ranks after his BCHL career, most notably posting a remarkable .943 save percentage and a 20-4-0 record at the University of Denver in 2001-02. He received numerous NHL offers throughout his time with the Pioneers and won the AHL’s top goaltender and rookie of the year awards in his first pro season.

Cooley’s rise to the top has been a much slower burn. While he managed an 11-6-2 record and a .934 save percentage over 20 games as a sophomore with the Pioneers in 2018-19, he lost his starting job to Magnus Chrona the following year and had to settle for an ECHL gig with the Florida Everblades upon turning pro in 2020. When Cooley did play in the AHL over his first four pro seasons, he was a solid but unspectacular backup to the likes of Connor Ingram, Yaroslav Askarov, and Devon Levi.

Going back to his early junior days with the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks, Cooley has never, ever had a starter’s workload. Even in his best year with the Pioneers, he still played in two fewer games than tandem partner Filip Larsson. Cooley’s current career high for games in a season in 27, which he split between the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals and the ECHL’s Everblades in 2021-22. If all proceeds as expected, he should obliterate that mark this year.

Even factoring in his numbers with the Wranglers this season, Cooley’s career AHL save percentage sits at .908 through 77 games. That’s not bad, but it certainly doesn’t scream “diamond in the rough.” But even in a season where 16 goaltenders currently possess a save percentage north of .920, Cooley still stands out in an overwhelmingly positive way. His fundamentals are strong, he has a terrific attitude, and, best of all, he’s been extremely consistent, allowing one goal or fewer in seven of his 10 starts.

The goaltending position is inherently the most volatile in this uniquely chaotic sport. Even casual fans will remember the extent to which Jacob Markstrom went up and down throughout his tenure in Calgary; die-hards should recall Craig Anderson yo-yoing between elite and merely decent status over the majority of the 2010s. Both those goaltenders only established themselves as legit everyday NHLers in their late 20s, even with their relatively strong draft pedigree.

At this point, nobody is saying Cooley will turn into a full-fledged starter like those two became, but he’s absolutely putting his name into the conversation for one of the 64 jobs around the NHL. The Wranglers aren’t quite the same team they were when they topped the AHL standings in the 2022-23 season — especially now that Dustin Wolf, Connor Zary, and Martin Pospisil are in the NHL — but Cooley has managed to give them the continuity at the goaltending position they needed to remain successful.

Cooley is still somewhat obscure to most fans outside of Calgary, but it wouldn’t be at all surprising to see him take over as Wolf’s backup if and when pending unrestricted free agent Dan Vladar moves on, whether that’s before the trade deadline or in the offseason. And if Wolf and Cooley do eventually form a tandem with the Flames, it’ll represent a union of two netminders who grew up a 30-minute drive away from each other in the hockey hotbed that is the San Jose suburbs. What are the odds?