- Cooper Black will make his NHL debut for the Panthers against the Penguins
- At 6-foot-9, he becomes the tallest goalie in league history
- Read below for what Paul Maurice said and how Black got the call
Cooper Black is about to make NHL history. The Florida Panthers goalie makes his debut Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and at 6-foot-9 he becomes the tallest goaltender ever to play in the league.
The Panthers made it official and listed Black at 6-foot-9, up from the 6-foot-8 he was previously listed at. That beats the old record by two inches. The 6-foot-7 group includes Ben Bishop, Mikko Koskinen, Ivan Fedotov and Mads Søgaard.
We broke down the record when it first looked like Black was getting the nod, then passed along the confirmation once the height change and debut were official:
Puck drop against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena is 7 p.m. ET.
Black got the call because Jacob Markstrom is down. Florida announced Tuesday that its No. 1 goalie will miss 1-2 weeks with an upper-body injury suffered in practice, which we covered when it happened. Black was recalled from Charlotte that day, and Akira Schmid started Wednesday’s 5-1 loss in Ottawa with Black on the bench.
Paul Maurice was asked about the pregame talk he usually gives a first-timer. The Panthers coach said his standard speech doesn’t fit a goalie.
“I’ve got this speech that I give every guy, and I don’t think I can give it to a goalie, go out there, relax, take in the crowd,” Maurice said. “I’m not going to give him one. I’m going to let (goaltending coach) Robbie Tallas do his thing.”
Maurice also talked about what he saw from Black in the preseason, when he stopped 14 shots in a 5-3 win over Tampa Bay on Sept. 24.
“He looked efficient,” Maurice said. “He was small in the right way. He wasn’t all over the place. He didn’t look like he was solely relying on his size to make saves. We’re looking forward to seeing him. We think we’ve got a real good one there.”
Black is 25 and signed with Florida as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth in 2024. He got a two-year, two-way extension in June. In three starts with the Checkers this season he is 2-1-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage, including 33 saves in a 4-2 win over Hartford on Saturday.
Here’s our earlier look at the record he’s about to break:
Schmid and Black are the Panthers’ goalie tandem for however long Markstrom is out.
