Flames Lose Cooley to IR and Zary to Knee Surgery in Brutal Roster Blow

The Calgary Flames just got handed the kind of injury update that makes you want to simulate to the end of the season.

According to Daily Faceoff, goaltender Devin Cooley is officially heading to injured reserve, while center Connor Zary is week-to-week after undergoing knee surgery.

"Daily Faceoff broke the news, confirming Cooley's placement on IR and Zary's week-to-week timeline after surgery."

Losing one key piece is bad luck. Losing a dynamic young center and your most reliable goalie at the exact same time is a targeted attack by the hockey gods. Zary’s knee-on-knee hit earlier this week was brutal enough, but tossing Cooley onto the IR pile turns a bad week into a full-blown roster crisis.

For context, Cooley hasn't just been a warm body in the crease. He has been keeping this team afloat with a 2.17 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage over 11 appearances. You do not just replace those numbers with a guy you called up from the AHL who was eating a hot dog on the bus two hours ago.

The timing is objectively hilarious if you aren't a Flames fan. Calgary is fresh off getting completely dismantled 4-0 by the Edmonton Oilers in the Battle of Alberta. Now they have to figure out how to score goals without Zary and stop them without Cooley.

The Flames host the Seattle Kraken on Halloween night, which is fitting because this lineup is starting to look like a ghost town. If you are looking at the odds for that matchup, you have to factor in a Calgary team that is suddenly missing its safety net in net and a massive chunk of its forward depth. Expect a lot of line shuffling and a very long weekend in Alberta.