by Mark Newman | AHL On The Beat
Grand Rapids Griffins goaltender Sebastian Cossa grew up taking part in hockey in Fort McMurray, Alberta, as a result of there wasn’t a lot else to do. Choices have been restricted.
“Dig a gap. Hit your head in opposition to the wall. Decide your nostril,” laughs Cossa, who moved to the capital of Canada’s burgeoning tar sands trade when he was just a little boy. Within the hinterlands of the nation’s western prairies, you grew up taking part in hockey or soccer as a result of, properly, that’s what you probably did for those who didn’t need to change into bored stiff.
“There are two or three lakes within the space, however they’re a few hours away,” Cossa continued. “There are two golf programs, that are good and the place my mother and father performed 5 – 6 instances every week, however aside from that, there’s not a lot.”
It was, in truth, the oil sands that led Gianni and Sandie Cossa to take Sebastian and his older brother Nicholas to Alberta within the first place. They left the residential neighborhood of Stoney Creek in Hamilton, Ontario, earlier than Gianni’s work as an occupational well being and security skilled introduced him to the Fort McMurray space. The blue-collar roots return greater than a era: Cossa’s late grandfather, Pietro, emigrated from the Italian island of Sardinia to Germany, the place he labored for six years earlier than coming to Canada.
Cossa, who stands 6-foot-7 at the moment in his stocking toes, was all the time tall for his age. So he naturally gravitated to sports activities as a boy, besides he by no means performed organized basketball – despite the fact that he was already over six toes tall in the beginning of his teenagers. He began skating at a younger age and was already taking part in goalie by the point he was seven or eight.
“Throughout my second yr of atom hockey, we had three goalies to begin the season and we have been type of rotating every recreation,” Cossa recalled. “By Christmas, the opposite two stop being goalies as a result of they didn’t prefer it, so I used to be the one who caught with it.”
Cossa was born in 2002, so the heyday of Edmonton goalies Grant Fuhr and Andy Moog had lengthy handed – and he wasn’t an Oilers fan anyway. His hockey hero was farther east.
“My complete household’s from Ontario, in order that they have been large Leaf followers, however my favourite goalie rising up was Carey Value,” mentioned Cossa. “I’d spend hours simply watching the best way he performed, looking for movies on YouTube to look at how he practiced, the best way he moved within the web, and the way easy the whole lot was.”
Cossa and his brother have been on the ice at an early age, despite the fact that their father didn’t study to skate till he was 42, ultimately changing into a youth hockey referee. Coming late to the sport didn’t cease his father, nonetheless, from imparting his knowledge in a heartfelt try and mildew his son into the most effective that he could possibly be.
“He was all the time attempting his greatest to educate me,” Cossa mentioned. “Each my mother and pa have been very supportive. My mother meant the whole lot. I wouldn’t be the individual I’m at the moment with out her. She was all the time in my nook, and she or he nonetheless helps me each day, giving me all of the instruments that I have to be profitable. My mother and father have all the time been unbelievable.”
When he was round 12, Cossa began working with former professional goaltender Mike Brodeur, who was chosen by the Chicago Blackhawks within the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
“As a giant physique who wasn’t that agile or that coordinated, he performed an important half in hammering down the approach half, which is large for a youthful man,” mentioned Cossa.
It was additionally round that point that Cossa and his household have been confronted with the life-altering expertise of the most important wildfire evacuation in Alberta’s historical past. Greater than 88,000 residents have been compelled to evacuate their houses earlier than flames brought about an estimated $9.9 billion in injury, the most expensive catastrophe in Canadian historical past.
Cossa and his household had attended a spring hockey match in Edmonton the weekend earlier than the fireplace, which ultimately unfold throughout 1.5 million acres earlier than it was totally extinguished three months later. They ended up staying with household in Calgary for 3 months.
At age 13, Cossa began billeting to play AAA hockey in Fort Saskatchewan, a metropolis northwest of Edmonton. He would ultimately start working with Kurtis Mucha, the Edmonton Oil Kings’ goalie growth coach with whom Cossa nonetheless skates each summer time. Scouts started to take discover of the gawky goaltender who was slowly however absolutely shaping into the kind of puck stopper round which a corporation might construct a profitable group.
Throughout his 2016-17 season with the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, he was the highest goaltender in his U-15 league. He was chosen within the second spherical of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft by the Oil Kings however performed two extra seasons in Fort Saskatchewan earlier than graduating to the Western Hockey League, the place he would submit relatively unbelievable numbers: Throughout his three years within the WHL (2019-22), Cossa compiled a report of 71-16-7.
“I used to be fortunate,” Cossa mentioned. “We had some actually good groups whereas I used to be there.”
It was not all easy crusing, nonetheless. In March 2020, the WHL introduced the cancellation of playoffs as a result of COVID-19 pandemic, a disappointing finish to what had been a promising season. However on a constructive entrance, the extenuating circumstances of the coronavirus allowed Cossa to sleep in his personal mattress and revel in his mother’s cooking throughout a time that was attempting for a lot of households.
The time away from the ice gave him an opportunity to refocus his energies and, for the primary time in his younger hockey profession, acknowledge his potential. Cossa proved to be almost unbeatable throughout his second season with the Oil Kings, main into the NHL Entry Draft. He was 17-1-1 with a 1.57 goals-against common and .941 save share through the shortened 2020-21 season.
He was delighted when the Purple Wings chosen him with the fifteenth general decide within the 2021 NHL Draft, understanding Detroit had traded the group’s first-, second- and fifth-round alternatives to Dallas for the possibility to take him.
“Draft night time is fairly loopy as a result of you haven’t any thought the place you’re going,” Cossa mentioned. “Each time a decide is available in, you assume, ‘Nicely, I feel I had a very good interview with them. Are they on the lookout for a goalie? Do they even desire a goalie?’ You actually don’t know.”
He turned the primary WHL goaltender to be chosen within the first spherical since his hero, Carey Value, in 2005.
Cossa completed his junior hockey profession with yet another banner yr. He was 33-9-3 with a 2.28 goals-against common and .913 save share through the 2021-22 common season, then went 16-3 within the playoffs to steer the Oil Kings to the WHL championship. He had the choice of returning for yet another yr of junior hockey, however with little to show at that degree he determined to start his professional profession.
“I knew I didn’t need to return to junior,” he mentioned. “It doesn’t matter what, I needed to show professional and get taking part in video games and get used to the professional schedule, to not point out the pace and talent of the sport at that degree.”
Cossa received his first professional begin, making 21 saves to assist the Griffins beat Milwaukee 3-2 at Van Andel Enviornment on Oct. 19, 2022. However the whole lot got here aside in his subsequent two begins on the highway. Whereas Cossa had no illusions of coasting into an NHL job, he admits that his early struggles on the AHL degree shook his confidence.
“I noticed that it wasn’t going to be straightforward,” he mentioned. “I knew I used to be not going to stroll in and be taking part in within the NHL in a single yr. That’s not the way it works. It’s a must to put within the work and also you’re going to should get after it.”
Cossa spent most of his rookie professional season with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, the place he was capable of regain his confidence. He credit Phil Osaer, Purple Wings head of goaltending growth, and then-Walleye head coach Dan Watson with getting his play again on observe. So there was an actual sense of reduction final season when Cossa and Watson have been again collectively once more, this time in Grand Rapids after the Purple Wings promoted each males to the AHL.
Cossa received solely three of his first 10 begins in 2023-24, however his fortunes – together with these of his Griffins teammates – modified dramatically after Christmas. After profitable two of his first three post-holiday begins, Cossa put collectively a franchise-record streak of 19 consecutive video games with the group incomes not less than one level (13-0-6).
“For me, it’s a lot about confidence,” he mentioned. “If you begin profitable 4 or 5 video games in a row and the group’s feeling it – the vibes within the locker room are actually good – it’s straightforward to return to the rink each night time.”
Cossa felt he benefited from the tutelage of Griffins goaltending coach Roope Koistinen, who got here to Grand Rapids final season.
“Our relationship grew lots through the season,” Koistinen mentioned. “He knew the way to decide the best spots, whether or not it was calming issues down or selecting issues up, relying on the group’s schedule. He’s good with that type of stuff.”
Creating correct approach is essential for any goalie, however in the end it’s all about constructing confidence. For his half, Cossa has grown extra assured in each side of his recreation.
“I’d say my total recreation has advanced,” mentioned Cossa, who has a 1.98 GAA and a .936 save share by way of his first eight appearances this season. “My skating is best, and dealing with Roope I’d say my fingers have gotten higher. I feel my play by way of site visitors has gotten lots higher as properly. I really feel like I’m studying to make use of my dimension to its full benefit.”
Cossa, who turns 22 later this month, had a busy summer time. On June 22, he wed his longtime sweetheart, Emerson. He additionally spent numerous time engaged on his explosiveness, pushing his response time and quickness.
“I nonetheless don’t assume I’ve totally grown into my physique,” he mentioned. “With the quantity of pace on the ice, if I can transfer quicker as a giant man, it’s solely going to assist me.”
In the end, he wish to push for the promotion that he hopes will ultimately come.
“My objective is to make it a tough resolution for the Wings to maintain me down right here,” he mentioned. “Total, the work I’ve put in and the advance I’ve proven, I really feel very assured. My solely fear proper now could be to do what I can management. I need to play numerous video games and win numerous video games and see what occurs.”
