One pivotal test of a hockey coach’s trust in a player is whether he uses that player in the most pressure-packed moments.
Defenseman Brian Cooper of Anchorage made the grade Sunday.
With Team USA protecting a 3-2 lead and Germany employing an extra attacker in the final 93 seconds in Beijing, Cooper never left the Olympic ice. There’s the evidence that coach David Quinn trusts Cooper.
Cooper and company kept the Germans at bay, earned the 3-2 win to top Group A, finish the preliminary round 3-0-0 and seize a bye into Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The Americans will play the winner of Tuesday’s Slovakia-Germany game.
Photo by David W. Cerny, Reuters
Cooper’s 24 minutes, 41 seconds of ice time was the second-most among American defensemen Sunday and marked his most ice in the tournament. The 28-year-old who plays professionally in the Swedish Elite League through three games has fired seven shots on goal, furnished an assist, racked a plus-minus rating of plus-5 and averaged 20:15 of ice time.
Also Sunday, former UAA defenseman Mat Robinson and Team Canada beat host China 5-0 to wrap preliminary-round play at 2-1-0 – the Canadians fell 4-2 to the Americans on Saturday.
Robinson fired one shot, registered an even rating and logged 14:34 of ice time. The 35-year-old from Calgary, who won silver with Canada in 2018 and plays professional in Russia, through three games has two shots, one goal, a plus-2 rating and average ice time of 15:23.
Team Canada on Tuesday plays China again, this time for the right to face Sweden in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.