A hockey player’s interview went viral. It’s a perfect lesson in mental performance

Calgary Flames goaltender Devin Cooley went viral following a postgame interview after an upset 3-2 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Cooley explained that having too much fun shifts his mind from unconscious instincts to conscious thought, significantly slowing his reaction times. Mental performance specialist Jeff Troesch and other NHL goaltenders highlighted his comments as a classic example of achieving and maintaining an elite flow state during high-stakes competition.

Fellow NHL goaltenders Andrei Vasilevskiy, Adin Hill, and Jake Oettinger corroborated Cooley's insights, noting that conscious overthinking impairs fluid decision-making on the ice. Troesch explained that training builds muscle memory, but competitive performance requires athletes to rely on external sensory cues rather than conscious control. Cooley demonstrated this instinctual approach in the game's final seconds, making a lunging stop against Jackson Blake to preserve Calgary's win.