NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – If you ask any kid growing up who plays hockey what their dream is, most will say they want to play professional hockey, especially in Canada, with hockey hot beds such as Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Edmonton just to name a few.

That thought remains true, even in the Yukon.

Roughly about 300 miles from the Alaskan border along the Alaskan Highway in Canada sits the city of Whitehorse, where rookie Stingrays forward Stan Cooley grew up. 

“It was great, it's different, it's the Arctic,” Cooley said. “I grew up there, so I didn't know any different. Looking back now though, it was pretty interesting. There would be grizzlies and moose in our neighborhood and right across from our front door were forests until the Pacific Ocean, so it was pretty cool.”

In a city of about 30,000 people, Cooley, like so many other kids, laced the skates up at an early age. His father, Dennis, was the one who pushed him to get skating and start playing the game. 

“He grew up playing and was always a huge fan of the game,” Cooley said. “He had me skating pretty early, probably around three years old. He's easily the biggest influence in my hockey career.”

The elder Cooley wanted his son and his friends to play as much as they could, so much that Dennis became the caretaker for the outdoor rink near their house. 

“He saw how bad the conditions were,” Cooley said. “People were falling and getting hurt, so he volunteered his time so that me and my buddies could have a good space to go out and play whenever we wanted.”

Cooley lived in Whitehorse until he was 10 years old and after moving away from the Yukon, his love of the game remained. He went to Notre Dame in Saskatchewan for high school, where he helped the Hounds win a Telus Cup, Canada’s under-18 club championship in 2018. While at Notre Dame, Cooley knew he wanted to find a career playing the game he loved. 

“You always dream about it,” Cooley said. “Going there made me realize I need to dial it in and really take this seriously because this is what I want to do.”

The forward took the next steps in his career by playing in the Alberta Junior Hockey League for two years before being drafted by the Lincoln Stars of the USHL. During his junior career, Cooley started garnering interest from colleges and eventually landed at Colorado College, a program that was looking for a new start. 

Cooley committed to play at Colorado for first year Head Coach, Kris Mayotte, who took the job after being an assistant coach at multiple schools around the country. In his first year, Mayotte, along with his coaching staff, were looking for players who would lay the foundation for the future of the program, and saw Cooley as a perfect fit for the Tigers. 

“Once we got the job and we were looking at people out there that fit the type of mentality that we want in this program, he was a guy that became a high priority for us,” Mayotte said.

At Colorado, Cooley made a name for himself and impressed the coaching staff early through his drive and commitment even when wins were not coming. He was named an assistant captain as a sophomore and turned in an impressive season setting a career high in points. The forward had worked his way into an invaluable role in the program, eventually becoming the captain of the Tigers in 2024. 

“He was helping to set a standard,” Mayotte said. “Those first two years, those teams knew they were putting in the work without likely getting the reward. But it was just his ability to handle adversity and not just handle it, but thrive in it. When it got hard, when we hadn't won much, it didn't change who he was. It didn't change how he prepared and it didn't change how he competed.”

The program started to see the work pay off. Over the course of Cooley’s four years, Colorado saw an increase in wins, becoming nationally ranked, and an appearance in the NCHC Championship game. The rebuild was done and Colorado now sees the work that Cooley, along with Stingrays defenseman Connor Mayer, come to fruition. 

“We got a little better every year,” Cooley said. “Myself and the guys I graduated with being there for four years were really proud to be able to help turn that program around.”

“If it weren't for the work in those first two years, we wouldn't be having these opportunities now,” Mayotte said. “Being willing to do the hard stuff every single day when you know you might not get the reward is really challenging to do sometimes. But Stan was a leader in that way. Our program's in great hands because of how he approached every day and how he executed every day.” 

Cooley signed with the Stingrays in early September after going to the Washington Capitals Development camp. While there, he met Stingrays Head Coach Dave Warsofsky and Assistant Coach Scott Davidson, and it made the decision easy to join South Carolina. 

“I felt comfortable right away,” Cooley said. “As I started to learn more about South Carolina as an organization, then just the city in general it was a pretty easy decision. There really wasn't much other thought that went into it. Once I started learning about it I was all in.”

South Carolina has seen that decision pay off as Cooley continues his first season. All the hard work from the Yukon to Colorado paid off, as he scored his first professional goal against the Greenville Swamp Rabbits on October 19. In the crowd in Greenville that Sunday was his dad, the one who inspired him to start playing.

“The first pro one was pretty special,” Cooley said. “He was down from Canada to watch it too, so that was pretty cool getting to give him the puck after and share that moment with him.”

Cooley and the Stingrays return to action on Wednesday, October 29, at 7:05 p.m. against the Orlando Solar Bears at the North Charleston Coliseum for College Night. Students have a special ticket offer and all fans can enjoy $3 beer. Tickets for Wednesday night are available on Ticketmaster.com and at the North Charleston Coliseum Box Office.

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The Stingrays return to the North Charleston Coliseum on Wednesday, October 29, at 7:05 p.m. against the Orlando Solar Bears on College Night. The full schedule can be viewed on our website here.

2025-26 Season ticket plans are on sale now! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-7418 or submit this form.

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