Mat Robinson
Former UAA defenseman Mat Robinson notched the bigger individual achievement Saturday, but Anchorage’s Brian Cooper snatched the team triumph.
It’s hockey – specifically Olympic hockey – so we know which one both men would rate bigger. On frozen pond, team trumps everything.
Cooper and Team USA won its preliminary-round matchup with Robinson and Team Canada, 4-2, in the second game of the Games for both teams.
Robinson, a defenseman who plays professionally in Russia, opened the scoring just 84 seconds into the game on a sharply-angled shot from the right boards that beat American goaltender Strauss Mann between the pads. But the Americans rallied for two goals later in the first period and never wavered after.
Brian Cooper
Cooper, the former Omaha defenseman and Anaheim Ducks draft pick who plays professionally in Sweden, first three shots on goal Saturday and earned an even plus-minus rating. His 19:25 of ice time, about three minutes more than in the Americans’ opening 8-0 win over China, ranked third-most among Team USA’s seven defensemen.
Robinson’s goal was his second career Olympic marker. He scored a goal, and added an assist, when he won bronze with Team Canada in 2018. Saturday, he had one shot on goal and an even rating in 15:38 of ice that ranked fourth-most among Canada’s seven blueliners.