Mammoth’s Cooley out at least 8 weeks with lower-body injury

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley is expected to miss a minimum of eight weeks with what the team is calling a lower-body injury.

General manager Bill Armstrong announced Cooley’s timeline Thursday.

Cooley, 21, was injured Dec. 5 in Vancouver when he slid into the net, with his left leg crashing into the right post. Being out eight weeks will take him to the Olympic break in early February and could put him in line to return when the season resumes later in the month.

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Still the Mammoth’s leading goal scorer with 14, Cooley was one of the biggest reasons they got off to a strong start to the season and were in a playoff spot the night he got hurt. Utah has lost all three games since Cooley was sidelined.

The long-term injury also all but certainly ends Cooley’s already long shot chances of being picked for the U.S. roster to take part in the Games in Milan.

Taken with the third pick in the 2022 draft when the club was the Arizona Coyotes before moving to Salt Lake City, Cooley is one of the NHL’s rising stars and in late October signed an eight-year extension worth $80 million. The Pittsburgh native has 23 points in 29 games this season.