Cooper Black hockey reaches the NHL on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET, and the Florida Panthers are sending a 6-foot-9 goaltender into PPG Paints Arena against the Pittsburgh Penguins. That makes his first game more than a standard debut: he is set to become the tallest goalie in NHL history.
6-foot-9 at PPG Paints Arena
Black’s listed height sits above the tallest previous NHL goaltenders, who were all 6-foot-7. Ben Bishop, Mikko Koskinen, Ivan Fedotov and Mads Sogaard have each appeared in an NHL game at that size, which leaves Black alone at the top of the league’s height chart before he even takes a shot.
The timing is just as specific. The Panthers recalled him from the AHL on Tuesday, then moved him into a matchup that lands on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. For a goalie, that means the opening test is not a soft landing; it is a road game, a first NHL start, and a record-setting frame all at once.
Charlotte Checkers numbers
Black arrived with usable form, not just size. He made three starts with the Charlotte Checkers this season and went 2-1-0 with a 2.67 goals-against average and a.919 save percentage.
His latest outing came Saturday, when he made 33 saves in a 4-2 win over Hartford. That line matters because it shows the Panthers are not asking him to survive on reach alone. They are bringing up a goalie who has already handled volume and produced a result in the AHL this season.
Paul Maurice on Black
Paul Maurice framed the case for Black in direct terms: “That's a big lad, and he moves like an athlete,” and after a preseason look against Tampa Bay, “He looked efficient. He was small in the right way. He wasn't all over the place. He didn't look like he was solely relying on his size to make saves.”
That is the real edge here. Black enters the NHL as a height outlier, but the coaching staff is describing movement and structure, not novelty. Maurice also said, “I’ve got this speech that I give every guy, and I don’t think I can give it to a goalie – go out there, relax, take in the crowd,” then added, “I’m not going to give him one.”
Thursday’s first read
The Panthers are not just staging a debut; they are installing a goalie whose profile changes the visual baseline for the position. If Black handles the crease the way Maurice described him in preseason, the record will be the headline, but the deeper answer will be whether a 6-foot-9 frame can also look ordinary in NHL traffic.
Robbie Tallas will handle the final prep, and Black’s first NHL appearance will tell the Panthers whether this is a one-night milestone or the start of a longer run.
