Cossa shows growth, strong work ethic in first full season with Griffins

GRAND RAPIDS -- Sebastian Cossa constantly works to improve all aspects of his game. And for the Detroit Red Wings goalie prospect, increasing his self-motivation has helped him grow as a player and person.

“Obviously I get frustrated when I’m not giving my team a chance to win or when I’m not playing the best hockey that I can,” Cossa recently told DetroitRedWings.com. “Just reiterating to myself that I am a good goalie, and I can come out any given night and stop every puck. For me, it’s resetting mentally. Every game is a new game.”

That approach helped the 21-year-old Cossa emerge as the Grand Rapids Griffins’ No. 1 goaltender in the 2023-24 regular season. In 40 AHL games, Cossa posted a 22-9-9 record with a 2.41 goals-against average, .913 save percentage and two shutouts.

“Looking back on the year, some ups and downs throughout the way,” Cossa said about his first full AHL campaign. “That’s to be expected, but I feel I’ve done a really good job of bouncing back. That’s been big for me.”

Grand Rapids head coach Dan Watson said the biggest area of improvement he saw from Cossa this season was off the ice.

“His preparation and the process he’s been taking to be ready for practice, that’s been taken to another level,” Watson said about Cossa. “I think that’s helped him grow his game on the ice. With that said, (Griffins goaltending development coach) Roope Koistinen has done a fantastic job of fine-tuning his game and getting him to learn some more positional things.”

Last season, Watson was Cossa’s head coach with Detroit’s ECHL-affiliate Toledo Walleye. Cossa said having an established relationship with Watson paid dividends this season.

“Coming into this year, a lot of comfortability,” Cossa said. “Comfort in the room. It’s an open-door policy there. That entire (coaching) staff, you can go in and talk to them. It’s been really good for me, especially as younger guy coming in.”

The 6-foot-7, 215-pound goaltender played a key role in Grand Rapids’ 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs run, finishing with a 2.72 GAA and .900 SV% in nine postseason games. On Sunday, the Griffins were eliminated from the AHL Central Division Final by the Milwaukee Admirals with a 2-0 shutout road loss in the winner-take-all Game 5.

The No. 15 pick of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Red Wings, Cossa said he aims to build on the AHL playoff experience he gained this season.

“The intensity and the emotion of the game, stuff like that is all heightened,” Cossa said. “It’s been really good for me to get a taste of what that’s like.”