Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Arizona Coyotes ice hockey teenage star Logan Cooley will always remember Rod Laver Arena, and those who watched his foray into the NHL won’t forget his performance in a hurry.
The 19-year-old rookie scored a highlight goal as his team won 5-3 over the Los Angeles Kings in front of 13,097 spectators in Melbourne on Saturday. The preseason game was the first time an NHL game has been played anywhere in the southern hemisphere.
Logan Cooley of the Arizona Coyotes scores during the NHL Global Series match between Arizona Coyotes and Los Angeles Kings at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday.Credit: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images
On Sunday, 13,118 fans saw the Kings beat the Coyotes 3-2.
Coyotes forward Clayton Keller will forever be the answer to the trivia question: which player scored the NHL’s first goal in the southern hemisphere? But the lasting memory will be Cooley scoring his first goal at a senior level.
“It was one of the best goals I’ve ever seen,” Keller said of his younger teammate’s goal.
“The spin around was one thing but to have the patience to pull it to your forehand and then finish it — definitely one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Cooley, who is starting his first season at the top level, is seen as a potential star, and while this goal won’t count on his official NHL record, the highlight will be replayed throughout the hockey world.
“It’s still preseason right? It doesn’t officially count. But it was just a fun game to play in and it felt good to get one under the belt but we’ll wait for the real one [a regular season goal] before being that happy about it.”
Both Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny and Kings coach Todd McLellan were surprised by the level of interest in the game in Melbourne, noting they saw jerseys from all 32 teams and a few past ones at the two sold-out games and around the city.
A vintage Joe Sakic Quebec Nordiques jersey caught Tourigny’s eye from just behind the team’s bench while McLellan said he could hear and see that the fans at the game were engaged in the contest and knew their hockey.
“I (now) know there are way more hockey fans that I knew of,” Tourigny said.
“To see NHL jerseys everywhere, it was amazing, and I was not expecting that.”
Australian-born, Canadian-raised Kings defender Jordan Spence started Sunday’s game and received the biggest ovation of the weekend, finishing with two assists.
“He is a hungry young player who wants to play in the NHL and he is really close — if he keeps playing like that, he is going to force his way in,” McLellan said.
NHL officials were happy with the crowds and merchandise sales, estimating 40 per cent of the fans came from outside Victoria to attend the game.
“Based on this initial event, we are really positive that there is a real opportunity for the NHL in Melbourne specifically and Australia more generally,” NHL international strategy senior vice-president Lynn White said.
White and many of the NHL visitors also attended Collingwood’s preliminary final win at the MCG on Friday night, and she noted the reaction to Magpies ruckman Mason Cox who dropped the puck for Sunday’s game amid a sea of playful boos.
“There was clearly a divide — there was Collingwood fans and plenty who were not,” White said.
Shawn and Nanette Higgins, from California, are Kings fans who followed the team out to Australia.
“It’s been amazing,” Shawn said. “It exceeded all expectations.”
A concern for the teams was issues with the ice which was in a bad way on Friday with the Kings cutting practice short, but engineers went to work on it and it played much better than expected.
“I tip my hat to the people who worked on it on Friday — they did a real good job of reviving it,” McLellan said.
“They are fighting a lot of factors like room temperature, humidity, etc but we both played on the same sheet [of ice] and got through 60 minutes [a full game].”
Just over 90 seconds into the game, Jacob Doty (Kings) and Josh Brown (Coyotes) briefly exchanged punches and were sent to the penalty box for two minutes each, they returned and immediately went to centre ice to properly square off, dropping their gloves and exchanging punches and blocks for a minute or so as the other players and referees watched on.
Fighting is rarely allowed to properly take place in hockey games now due to head injury and player safety concerns but, perhaps to appease a foreign audience, Brown and Doty exchanging haymakers.
They sat out for five minutes each for fighting before returning to play.
“Those two characters have that in their game and they’re both very respectful of each other,” McCellan said.
“They did their thing, it was done and for the rest of the night they both played really hard.
“It does still happen in our game, it’s not as prevalent as it used to be but it is still there.”
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
Most Viewed in Sport
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
