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Gophers' Logan Cooley flashes brilliance, avoids injury on dirty hit at World Junior Championship

Cooley and Team USA were stunned by Czechia in Wednesday's quarterfinal game at the world juniors.

Joe Nelson

Gophers' Logan Cooley flashes brilliance, avoids injury on dirty hit at World Junior Championship
Gophers' Logan Cooley flashes brilliance, avoids injury on dirty hit at World Junior Championship /

Golden Gopher hockey fans are breathing a sigh of relief after top recruit Logan Cooley was able to stay in the game after taking a knee-to-knee hit while playing for Team USA at the World Junior Championships Wednesday night. 

The hit dumped Cooley in the first period, with Czechia's Stanislav Svozil thrown out of the game for the major penalty. Cooley was down for a moment but was able to skate to the bench and later returned to the ice, after the game saying he was fine. 

The U.S. was stunned, however, falling to 4-2 to Czechia. Cooley, who was drafted third overall by the Arizona Coyotes and will suit up for the Gophers this fall, had one of the U.S. goals. It came on a rebound in front of the net after a wild bounce off the end boards in the first period. 

"I think we forced a little too many shots [on power play]," Cooley said after the loss, via NHL.com. "We needed to move the puck a little more, but credit to them. They had a great PK and they shut it down."

Cooley was dominant throughout the tournament, showcasing his ability to handle the puck in tight spaces and incredible vision to get teammates open shots. 

He also just missed scoring when he tried "The Michigan," a lacrosse-style move where he lifted the puck on his stick blade and attempted a wrap-around shot. He came up just short on the move, though it was dazzling to say the least. 

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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17. 

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