Last week, DU hockey’s Bobby Brink and Devin Cooley achieved significant career milestones. The college hockey season is set to commence in just under seven weeks.

Sophomore forward Bobby Brink (Minnetonka, Minn.) was invited to the 2021 U.S. National Junior Team Evaluation Camp being held later this month in Plymouth, Mich. The camp is used to evaluate top young hockey players from across the country and determine who will be a part of the U.S. National Junior Team. This team will compete in the 2021 International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championship in Edmonton, Alberta this winter. If Brink makes it past the evaluation camp and onto the national junior team, he will solidify himself as being among the best under-20 hockey players in the country.

In his rookie year at DU, Brink was an unanimous selection for the NCHC All-Rookie Team and a finalist for NCHC Rookie of the Year. He finished second in NCHC rookie scoring behind North Dakota forward Shane Pinto, recording 11 goals and 13 assists in 28 games.

The world junior championship tournament consists of teams from 10 different countries and includes 31 games occurring over the course of 10 days. In 2020, Canada came out on top with the U.S. finishing in sixth place. The last time the Americans took home the title was in 2017.

On Sept. 29, the same day Brink was invited to the evaluation camp, former Denver goalie Devin Cooley signed a two-year entry-level contract with the NHL’s Nashville Predators. Cooley left DU effective immediately as a result. The 6’5” goalie and Los Gatos, Calif. native spent three seasons in Denver, where he posted a 1.93 goals-against average and .927 save percentage in 32 career NCAA games. Cooley flourished in his sophomore year at DU, earning the team co-MVP award. He was named the NCHC Goalie of the Week twice as DU reached the Frozen Four that year.