by Mark Newman | AHL On The Beat
Goalie for the Grand Rapids Griffins Sebastian Cossa grew up playing hockey in Fort McMurray, Alberta, because there wasn’t much to do. The options were limited.
“Dig a hole. Hit your head against the wall. Pick your nose,” laughed Cossa, who moved to the capital of Canada’s burgeoning tarmac industry as a boy. In the western parts of the country, you grew up playing hockey or soccer because that’s what you did if you didn’t want to be bored to death.
“There are two or three lakes in the area, but they are a few hours away,” continued Cossa. “There are two golf courses, which are nice and where my parents played five or six times a week, but other than that, not much.”
In fact, it was the oil sands that led the way Gianni again Sandie Cossa taking Sebastian and his older brother Nicholas to Alberta first. They left the Stoney Creek community in Hamilton, Ontario, before Gianni’s work as a health and safety specialist brought him to the Fort McMurray area. The blue collar roots go back more than a generation: Cossa’s late grandfather, Pietrohe moved from the Italian island of Sardinia to Germany, where he worked for six years before coming to Canada.
Cossa, who stands 6-foot-7 today on his stocky feet, was always tall for his age. So he naturally focused on sports as a boy, despite never playing organized basketball – even though he was already over six feet tall by the start of his youth. He started skating at a young age and was playing goalie by the time he was seven or eight.
“My second year of field hockey, we had three goaltenders to start the season and we would rotate each game,” Cossa recalled. “At Christmas, the other two stop being goalkeepers because they don’t like it, so I’m the one who stuck with it.”
Cossa was born in 2002, so it’s a goal date in Edmonton Grant Fuhr again Andy Moog it was a long time ago – and he wasn’t an Oilers fan. His hockey hero was far to the east.
“My whole family is from Ontario, so they were big Leaf fans, but my favorite goalkeeper growing up was Carey Price,” said Cossa. “I spent hours watching him play, looking for videos on YouTube to see how he practices, how he moves around the net, and how smooth everything is.”
Cossa and his brother played on the ice when they were young, although his father didn’t learn to skate until he was 42, and he ended up as a youth hockey referee. Being late to the game didn’t stop his father, however, from imparting his wisdom in a heartfelt effort to mold his son into the best he could be.
“He always tried his best to train me,” said Cossa. “Both my mother and father are very supportive. My mother said everything. I would not be the person I am today without him. He was always in my corner, and he still helps me every day, giving me all the tools I need to succeed. My parents have always been unbelieving.”
When he was 12 years old, Cossa started working with a former pro player Mike Brodeurselected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
“As a big body that wasn’t that fast or that organized, he played an important role in bringing down the technical field, which is big for a little guy,” said Cossa.
It was also during that time that Cossa and his family experienced the life-changing experience of the largest wildfire in Alberta’s history. More than 88,000 residents were forced from their homes before the flames caused an estimated $9.9 billion in damage, the costliest disaster in Canadian history.
Cossa and his family were attending a spring hockey tournament in Edmonton the weekend before the fire, which eventually spread to 1.5 million hectares before being fully extinguished three months later. They ended up staying with the family in Calgary for three months.
At age 13, Cossa began playing AAA hockey in Fort Saskatchewan, a city northwest of Edmonton. He would eventually start working with him Kurtis MuchaEdmonton Oil Kings goalie development coach Cossa who we skated with every summer. Scouts began to notice the gawky goaltender who was slow but strong in the type of puck stopper around which the organization could build a winning team.
During his 2016-17 season with the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers, he was the top goaltender in his U-15 league. He was selected in the second round of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft by the Oil Kings but played two more seasons in Fort Saskatchewan before graduating to the Western Hockey League, where he would post impressive numbers: During his three years in the WHL (2019)-22), Cossa compiled a record of 71-16-7.
“I was lucky,” said Cossa. “We had some really good teams when I was there.”
However, it was not all smooth sailing. In March 2020, the WHL announced the cancellation of the playoffs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a disappointing end to what had been a promising season. But apparently, the growing conditions of the coronavirus have allowed Cossa to sleep in his own bed and enjoy his mother’s cooking while many families are trying.
The time away from the ice gave him a chance to refocus and, for the first time in his young hockey career, see his potential. Cossa proved nearly unbeatable in his second season with the Oil Kings, leading to the NHL Entry Draft. He was 17-1-1 with a 1.57 goals-against average and a .941 save percentage during the shortened 2020-21 season.
He was happy when the Red Wings selected him with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, knowing that Detroit had traded the team’s first, second and fifth round picks to Dallas for the opportunity to take him.
“Draft night is crazy because you don’t know where you’re going,” Cossa said. “Every time a pick comes in, you think, ‘Well, I think I had a good conversation with them.’ Do they want a goalkeeper? Do they want a goalkeeper?’ You don’t know at all.”
He became the first WHL goaltender to be selected in the first round since his hero, Carey Price, in 2005.
Cossa finished his junior hockey career with one more year. He was 33-9-3 with a 2.28 goals-against average and .913 save percentage in the 2021-22 regular season, then went 16-3 in the playoffs to lead the Oil Kings to the WHL championship. He had the option to return for one year of junior hockey, but with little to prove at that level he decided to begin his professional career.
“I knew I didn’t want to go back to junior high,” he said. “No matter what, I wanted to be a champion and play games and get used to the professional system, not to mention the speed and skill of the game at that level.”
Cossa won his first pro game, making 21 saves to help the Griffins beat Milwaukee 3-2 at Van Andel Arena on Oct. 19, 2022. But it all fell apart in his next two games on the road. Although Cossa has no plans to enter the NHL, he admits that his early struggles at the AHL level shook his confidence.
“I saw that it would not be easy,” he said. “I knew I wasn’t going to play in the NHL in one year. It doesn’t work like that. You have to be dedicated to the job and you have to follow it.”
Cossa spent most of his rookie pro season with the ECHL’s Toledo Walleye, where he was able to regain his confidence. He owes you Phil OserRed Wings head of goaltending, and Walleye head coach Dan Watson by getting his play back on track. So there was a real sense of relief last season when Cossa and Watson were back together again, this time in Grand Rapids after the Red Wings promoted both men to the AHL.
Cossa won just three of his first 10 games in 2023-24, but his fortunes — and those of his Griffins teammates — changed dramatically after Christmas. After winning two of his first three games after the holiday, Cossa put together a franchise record 19 game streak with at least one point (13-0-6).
“For me, it’s a lot about confidence,” he said. “When you start winning four or five games in a row and the team is feeling it – the vibes in the locker room are really good – it’s easy to come to the rink every night.”
Cossa saw that he benefited from the training of the Griffins goalie coach Roope Koistinenwho arrived in Grand Rapids last season.
“Our relationship has grown a lot over the course of the season,” Koistinen said. “He was able to choose the right places, whether to be quiet or pick things up, depending on the team’s schedule. He’s good at things like that.”
Developing proper technique is important for any goalie, but ultimately it’s about building confidence. On the other hand, Cossa has grown in confidence in all aspects of his game.
“I would say my whole game has changed,” said Cossa, who has a 1.98 GAA and a .936 save percentage through his first eight starts this season. “My skating is better, and working with Roope I can say that my hands have improved. I think my playing with traffic has gotten a lot better as well. I feel like I’m learning to use my size to my advantage.”
Cossa, who turns 22 later this month, has had a busy summer. On June 22, he married his longtime sweetheart, Emerson. He also spent a lot of time working on his explosiveness, pushing his reaction time and quickness.
“I still don’t think I have fully grown into my body,” he said. “With great speed on the ice, if I can go as fast as a big guy, it will only help me.”
Ultimately, he would like to push for a promotion that he hopes will eventually come.
“My goal is to make the difficult decision for Wings to keep me here,” he said. “Overall the work I have done and the improvement I have shown, I feel very confident. My only concern right now is to do what I can’t control. I want to play more games and win more games and see what happens.”
