Panthers’ Cooper Black becomes tallest goaltender to play NHL game

A significant milestone has been reached…both literally and figuratively.

On Thursday night, Florida Panthers goaltender Cooper Black made his NHL debut against the Pittsburgh Penguins, making him the tallest goaltender in league history.

Black stands head-and-shoulders above a lot of his competition. Coming in at 6-foot-9, the 25-year-old surpasses Ben Bishop and Ivan Fedotov, who were both 6-foot-7 during their days in the NHL.

The undrafted goaltender was called up from Florida’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, earlier this week after fellow backstop Jacob Markstrom went down with an injury during practice. Markstrom was later revealed to be ruled out for the next 10-14 days, leading to Panthers head coach Paul Maurice stating that Black would get his first shot in the big time sometime during the team’s four-game road trip.

Black has been solid in his first few appearances with Charlotte this season, going 2-1-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. He stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced last Saturday in a 4-2 victory over the Hartford Wolf Pack, the New York Rangers’ primary affiliate. The Alpena, Mich. native is coming off an impressive second full season with the Checkers, where he went 25-13-4, helping his team finish third in the AHL’s Atlantic Division. He gave up seven goals on 65 shots in the team’s first-round series against the sixth-seeded Springfield Thunderbirds, which the Checkers lost in three games.

Black jumped onto the Panthers’ radar during his two years at Dartmouth College, where he was one of the best netminders in the ECAC. He earned conference all-rookie team honors in 2022-23, before being named a second-team all-star in 2023-24. Black signed with the Cats in April 2024, shortly after his sophomore season came to a close.

In 63 regular-season games with Charlotte, Black has a record of 38-19-6, with a 2.39 GAA, a .904 SV% and four shutouts.