Frozen Four flashback: Freshman Logan Cooley delivers reminder of last Gophers national champs

TAMPA, FLA. - Twenty years ago, when he was a Gophers assistant coach, Bob Motzko recruited a highly skilled forward who made an immediate impact, leading Minnesota to an NCAA men's hockey championship.

Now, as Gophers head coach, Motzko might have the sequel.

Come Thursday at Amalie Arena, freshman Logan Cooley and the Gophers will try to take another step toward matching the feat freshman Thomas Vanek and his Minnesota teammates accomplished in 2003. The top-ranked Gophers open the Frozen Four with a semifinal game against Boston University, and the winner advances to Saturday's national championship game against either Quinnipiac or Michigan.

While the differences between Vanek and Cooley are clear — Vanek was a 6-2, 207-pound left winger from Austria, while Cooley is a 5-10, 180-pound center from Pittsburgh — Motzko sees a parallel that might be the most important of all.

"One thing with Thomas and Logan: When they get the puck, the whole rink freezes," Motzko said. "The other team, coaches, players and the fans — there's a pause and everyone waits to see what's going to happen when the great ones get it.

"And now being around Logan this year, it's the same thing. … There's a pause just for a second, and then you wait for it again. And that's just that 'it' factor players like that have."

Vanek played two years for the Gophers, became the No. 5 overall draft pick by the Buffalo Sabres in 2003 and enjoyed a 14-year NHL career. He shares Motzko's opinion when assessing Cooley, the No. 3 overall pick by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL draft.

"He's something else," Vanek said. "There are things in the game of hockey that some people have and some people don't have, and the kid has it."

Seeking the biggest moments

The kid's "it" was on display in the NCAA Fargo Regional. After posting three assists in Minnesota's 9-2 victory over Canisius in the first round, Cooley had his fingerprints all over the Gophers' 4-1 regional final win over St. Cloud State.

He took a second-period stretch pass from defenseman Jackson LaCombe and beat Huskies goalie Jaxon Castor on a breakaway for a 2-1 lead. Then Cooley won a third-period faceoff and drew the puck back to LaCombe, whose slapshot boosted Minnesota's lead to 3-1 with 8:16 to play.

"Such a high compete level, and he wants these moments," Motzko said of Cooley, who's on a 15-game point streak and six-game multipoint run. "He's not going to be a freshman that shies away from these moments, I can tell you that."

One of three Hobey Baker Award finalists, along with sophomore linemate Matthew Knies and Michigan freshman Adam Fantilli, Cooley ranks second nationally in scoring with 57 points on 20 goals and a nation's-best 37 assists. He's seven points behind Fantilli but has six game-winning goals, two more than Fantilli and one behind Knies, the national co-leader. The Hobey winner will be announced Friday in Tampa.

Teammates heard about Cooley's skills, but his ultracompetitive nature stood out even more.

"I had no idea what to expect, and it's great seeing him have that fire on the ice," Gophers senior defenseman Ryan Johnson said. "He plays with passion, and he's not afraid to try things. It honestly gives other guys courage to make plays."

Jimmy Snuggerud, a fellow freshman and linemate of Cooley's this season and in 2021-22 for the U.S. National Team Development Program, has witnessed Cooley's improvement up close.

"Playing with him the past few years has been pretty special," Snuggerud said. "The things he's accomplished have been unbelievable."

Cooley is quick to credit his teammates, especially Knies and Snuggerud. He also deflects questions about his NHL future, saying, "Our focus is on Minnesota and winning championships here." Any decision for the 18-year-old would come after the Frozen Four.

The stuff of champions

Vanek knows all about winning championships. He led the Gophers with 31 goals and 31 assists during the 2002-03 season, and his Frozen Four performance was one of most memorable in program history.

In the national semifinals against Michigan, Vanek scored the winner in a 3-2 overtime triumph, sweeping a puck from the goal line between the skates of Wolverines goalie Al Montoya. In the title game, Vanek patiently waited for a New Hampshire defenseman and goalie Mike Ayers to commit, then fired the puck into the open net for the go-ahead goal in a 5-1 win. That secured the Gophers' second consecutive — and most recent — national title.

He sees championship potential in this year's team, too, with Cooley playing a pivotal role.

"His hockey IQ is off the charts, his skating, his skills," said Vanek, an assistant coach for the Stillwater High School boys hockey team. "Lots of kids have all of that, but what really helps him is Knies and Snuggerud. When I think back to my time, it was the [Troy] Riddles and the [Matt] Koalskas that made me better.

"The three of them, when they're going and moving their feet and passing the puck, to me that's an NHL line," Vanek added. "You could insert them in the Minnesota Wild right now, and they'd have success."

Cooley, for his part, doesn't want to look too far ahead. He's wary of the distractions that can come with a big event such as the Frozen Four. He uses the Gophers' trip to Arizona State over Thanksgiving weekend — when the team played poorly in a series split — as a lesson that can apply in Tampa.

"You've got to manage how you handle yourself there," he said. "Our trip to Arizona, we kind of got carried away with the heat and stuff, so we have to make sure that we know it's a business trip and we're there to win two games."