Unfortunately, it looks like Logan Cooley will be missing some time for the Utah Mammoth.
After missing Utah's most recent game, a 2-0 loss to the Calgary Flames on Dec. 6, Utah Mammoth announced that Cooley is now out indefinitely with a lower-body injury.
“Cools, unfortunately, will be missing some time,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “With that said, I think every team is going through adversity and it’s an opportunity for someone else to step in.”
The injury occurred from a collision Cooley had with a goal post in an earlier game, Utah's 4–1 win over Vancouver on Dec. 5.
Originally, Cooley looked set to score a goal after getting Canucks goalie Kevin Lankinen to commit to hugging the right side of the net. But just as Cooley made his move to shoot on the empty net, Quinn Hughes came in and held Cooley to prevent the goal.
Though Hughes’ play prevented a goal, Cooley ended up losing his balance, falling into both Lankinen and the netting, and swung his left leg hard into the goal post.
Though Cooley was able to stand up on his own accord and finish his shift, he wouldn't finish the game against the Canucks and eventually sit out of Utah's game against Calgary. Now it seems now he will need even more time to recover from his injury.
This isn't the first time Cooley had suffered a injury to his left leg in recent weeks.
Back on Nov. 29, when the Mammoth were shutout 1-0 by the Blues, Logan Cooley also took major knee-to-knee contact from St. Louis forward Alexey Toropchenko. Cooley fell down in pain and Toropchenko was assessed a five minute major and a game misconduct.
At the time, the injury looked like it could be serious, with Cooley in significant pain and needing help from his teammates to skate off the ice. But the injury never kept Cooley out long, as he was back for Utah's next game against the San Jose Sharks.
But now, Utah will be without Cooley for the foreseeable future and will need others on the team to step up. Specifically, the Mammoth need Barrett Hayton, who was back in the lineup after being benched for two games, and rookie Daniil But, who has been Cooley's linemate the last couple of games.
Life will certainly be harder without Cooley, especially given his potential to score four-goal games like he did against the Golden Knights, but Utah will still have to figure out a way to overcome it.
If this sparks Hayton to increase his production — currently at 5 points through 25 games — or helps But break out with the added responsibility, Utah may be able to find a bit of a silver lining to this tough break
But in the meantime, Utah has to hope that this injury won’t prove to be too serious for Cooley