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The Florida Panthers, who were beaten by a 5-1 final score at Canadian Tire Centre on Wednesday evening as part of Brady Tkachuk’s return to Ottawa, were in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins just over 24 hours later.
And because of the absence of goaltender Jacob Markstrom due to injury, the Panthers are turning to rookie Cooper Black, who officially made NHL history by becoming the tallest player ever at his position to strap on the pads in NHL action; he’s also tied a trio of skaters as the tallest player in NHL history.
“Cooper Black, 6’9″, became the tallest goaltender in League history, besting Ben Bishop, Ivan Fedotov, Mikko Koskinen, and Mads Sogaard, who are all listed at 6’7″,” the NHL’s PR account wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Black also tied 6’9″ skaters Zdeno Chara, Curtis Douglas, and Matt Rempe as the tallest player in NHL history.”
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Unfortunately, the game wasn’t a memorable one for the Panthers, as they were beaten by a 4-0 final score; Black finished with 18 saves in his debut.
Born in Michigan in June 2001, Black played Michigan high school hockey before stints in the NAHL, USHL and BCHL, where he earned the league’s Best Save Percentage award in 2021-22 with Nanaimo.
Black then spent two seasons at Dartmouth, emerging as a standout goaltender and becoming a finalist for the Ken Dryden Award as a sophomore. He signed with the Panthers as an undrafted free agent in April 2024 and has since moved between the organization’s American Hockey League affiliate in Charlotte and its ECHL club in Savannah.
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