Oct 30, 2026 · 2h 36m
Devin Cooley turns a hockey interview into a study of curiosity
Spittin' Chiclets Episode 680: Featuring Devin Cooley
The episode pairs an escalating Dylan Larkin trade dispute with an unusually wide-ranging conversation about performance, recovery, identity, and life beyond hockey.
- 1Dylan Larkin’s stalled trade request raises questions about leverage, salary, team control, and Detroit’s willingness to wait for the right return.
- 2Devin Cooley connects concussion recovery, anxiety management, flow state, and self-worth to the demands of professional goaltending.
- 3The hosts defend young players and condemn rage-bait influencers while moving between NHL storylines, internet culture, and Halloween traditions.
Don't miss
Devin Cooley explains how concussion recovery changed his understanding of anxiety, identity, and the need to separate self-worth from hockey performance.
The brief
The Halloween framing quickly gives way to NHL business: Matvei Michkov, Carolina’s rise, the Islanders’ start, and Dylan Larkin’s increasingly tense trade dispute.
The hosts argue over Detroit’s options as Larkin stops playing and his representatives issue a new statement, weighing suspension, forfeited salary, trade value, and team leverage.
Devin Cooley joins for the episode’s center of gravity, describing viral fame, strict digital boundaries, routines with his rabbit, and a life designed to reduce unnecessary noise.
Cooley links concussion recovery and anxiety to a broader separation between identity and performance, then explains how flow, pattern recognition, and continual improvement shape his goaltending.
The conversation keeps widening into books, science, investing, NFTs, travel, AI, and the possibility that technological abundance could make meaning harder to find.
The episode closes by returning to Halloween, the Brewers’ World Series win, and rage-bait influencers, but Cooley’s curiosity remains its defining thread.
Books & mentions
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