A day after a one-sided loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Calgary Flames have announced an injury and the recall of some reinforcements. The club announced on Friday morning that they’ve called up goaltender Devin Cooley from the American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers on an emergency basis, and that goaltender Dan Vladar is day-to-day with a lower body injury.
The emergency recall that the Flames are utilizing for Cooley is an exception in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows teams to exceed the 23-man roster limit to ensure that they have two healthy goaltenders available. If Vladar was expected to be out a week or longer, he could be placed on the injury reserve list to open a roster spot. But with his injury, as announced, seemingly a short-term one, an emergency recall allows Cooley to fill in for the time being.
For his part, Cooley has been flat-out excellent in the AHL. He’s appeared in 18 games and posted a 14-3-0 record with a 1.80 goals against average, .942 save percentage and three shutouts. As of the time of his recall, he led the AHL outright in wins and goals against average, and was tied with San Jose Barracuda netminder Yaroslav Askarov for the lead in shutouts and save percentage. The 27-year-old Cooley joined the Flames as an unrestricted free agent this past off-season, signing a two-year deal.
Vladar didn’t have a great night against Tampa Bay, allowing eight goals on 26 shots and seeming visibly frustrated late in the game. He’s been on a bit of a good run lately, though, going 3-1-1 in the five starts prior to the Tampa Bay loss. Overall this season, he’s gone 6-6-4 with a 3.08 goals against average, .885 save percentage and two shutouts.
The Flames host the Florida Panthers at the Saddledome on Saturday night. The Wranglers play the Coachella Valley Firebirds on the road on Saturday and Sunday.