Photo credit: Marissa Baecker: Shoot the Breeze

By Regan Bartel

Between the pipes and between the ears

How Jordon Cooke mastered the mental game

Aug 17, 2025 | 9:26 AM

Former Kelowna Rockets netminder Jordon Cooke has a smile in his voice when he talks about returning to the WHL, this time as the Spokane Chiefs’ goaltending coach, which the team officially announced last week. But beneath the stories of big saves and long bus rides lies a candid look at the mental battles goalies face while standing in the crease.

“What I truly needed to work on was the mental aspect,” Cooke said when asked if he had a magic wand, how he would have changed his game over four solid seasons as the team’s number one goalie. “When I was in the net, I thought I was calm. It looked calm at least. Inside, I was everywhere.”

That insight stands in contrast to Cooke’s impressive career numbers, which included a goals-against average that never rose above 2.79 and a save percentage consistently over .900. These stats paint the picture of a reliable and steady presence in net. But behind those numbers was a daily mental battle most fans never see.

“There were so many sleepless nights,” Cooke continued. “There were pre-game naps where I lay wide awake because I am stressing that I want to play well, or want to win.”

Anxiety for athletes is often an invisible opponent. Sports psychologists have noted how performance anxiety can cloud an athlete’s decision-making, dull their physical sharpness, and steal the joy from moments that should be exhilarating. For goaltenders, the pressure is especially intense, each mistake feels magnified, and every save can seem like the difference between winning and losing.

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“When you are in the thick of it, you don’t recognize it and think it is a normal thing,” he said. “As I went to the pro level, I realized it was weighing on me.”

Seeking help was a turning point in Cooke’s journey. He worked with a professional psychology coach, a practice becoming more common as the stigma around mental health in sports continues to fade. Where once discussing mental health might have been seen as a sign of weakness, it is now embraced as a vital tool for peak athletic performance.

“The psychology coach really helped change my perspective to stay focused in-game and shift my mindset from ‘I have to win’ to ‘worry about the next shot.’ Honestly, being able to relax before games was a big one.”

With the Rockets, Cooke won an astonishing 37 games in the 2013-2014 season and earned the title of CHL Goalie of the Year as a 20-year-old. His resilience shines even brighter knowing he was battling more than just the league’s best shooters in pressure-packed moments.

Reflecting on his journey, Cooke said, “When I got to the rink, I just wanted to go out there and do my best and stop pucks. Where my mind was leading into it, I wish that was something I worked on at a much earlier age.”

Now as a coach, Cooke has a chance to pass along lessons learned. He knows firsthand how the mental side of goaltending can affect performance, especially for young players still developing their game.

“You can notice that in goalies,” Cooke said. “You can see it after one goal, or after a couple of bad ones. You can see them not being the same goalie as they typically are. If goalies can get the leg up on the mental side at a young age, that will only help their careers prosper.”

Cooke’s story reminds us that success on the stat sheet doesn’t always tell the full story.

Behind the numbers, there can be battles just as fierce as anything that happens on the ice, and winning those can be the greatest victory of all.