Sam Morton and Devin Cooley are used to battling with each other.
Once chasing NCAA scholarships, they’re now in pursuit of NHL roster spots as Flames teammates, as Calgary continues the preseason Monday against Seattle. Get tickets
It’s almost fitting the pair are both on the roster for Monday’s matchup against a team from Washington state.
Because it was there that the pair first got to know each other, as members of the BC Hockey League’s Wenatchee Wild.
“Feels like a long time ago,” Morton said of that 2016-17 squad. “Good memories of that team, there was a lot of really talented players.
“I think it was one of the best regular seasons in BCHL history.”
Indeed it was.
The Wild finished the regular season with a 45-9-4 record, good for first place overall, while individually, Wenatchee players earned MVP, Top Scorer, Most Sportsmanlike and Coach of the Year honours when awards season came rolling around.
Morton completed the campaign with 25 points, while Cooley posted three shutouts from his 14 appearances in goal.
The pair admit they weren’t especially close that year - Cooley was two years Morton’s senior - but they developed a bond in Wenatchee as teammates, and got to know each other’s quirks, too.
“He had a bit of a goofy side, for sure,” recalled Morton. “The one thing I remember was, he was always sliding around the room in his socks, I kind of chirped him for that.”
“He was a quieter guy, but he was a rookie; in junior, rookies are usually a little more quiet, little more reserved and stuff,” added Cooley. He was super-nice, always a really good guy to me.
“I think he really started to thrive once I left, he came back and did really well.”
Morton earned some hardware with the Wild the following year, helping the club win a BCHL title. By then, Cooley had moved on to the University of Denver, where he spent three years.
Both look back fondly on their time in Wenatchee as a proving ground for their hockey skills, a place that helped spur on their development.
The fans, I remember especially my first year, that place would be jammed every game," said Morton. "Like going to junior hockey, it was the first time playing in front of people, they got the wolf head that you’re skating out of, the smoke.
"Just a really fun spot in general, all the way around."
It’s beautiful, it is such an unreal location," Cooley added. "The fans there are super-passionate, they pack the barn every night.
"We got treated extremely well for a BCHL team, I was super-thankful for my time there."
Fast-forward to the present, and the pair have gotten the opportunity to reconnect in Calgary, as they fight for roster spots.
Morton signed a one-year deal after completing his collegiate career at Minnesota State last spring, while Cooley was a July 1 acquisition, inking a two-year pact after finishing the 2023-24 campaign in San Jose.
“When I signed, I kinda looked around wondering if I’d played with anybody, knew anybody, then I saw Morts and I was like ‘Oh, nice!’” Cooley said. “It was cool seeing him again, I hadn’t seen him in a long time, since the Wenatchee days.
“It was cool seeing him, catching up, and talking with him again.”
