News File Photo Alpena High goaltender Cooper Black is pictured during a game against Gaylord in this news file photo. Black recently signed an NHL contract with the Florida Panthers organization.

ALPENA — From Alpena High School’s Most Valuable Player to signing a National Hockey League contract, Cooper Black will take the next step in his hockey career by joining the Florida Panthers organization for the 2024-25 season.

Starting next season, Black will play with the Charlotte Checkers, an American Hockey League farm team for the Florida Panthers.

“I’d been talking with the Florida Panthers for a while, and even saw them at a development camp in 2023,” Black said. “They’d been watching me for a while and it just started to feel like the right fit.”

Playing for the Checkers — and, Black hopes, the Panthers — means Black will leave Dartmouth College, an Ivy League school where he played Division I hockey for the past two seasons, early.

“It’s definitely going to be tough leaving the Ivy League, because I’m leaving my education, but also because of the team, who have become my best friends these past two years,” Black said. “There was a lot that went into this decision, but I really want the chance to chase that dream.”

Courtesy Photo Cooper Black, an Alpena High School 2019 graduate, defends the net in a game played during his latest hockey season with Dartmouth College. On Monday, Black signed a contract with the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers organization to continue his athletic career.

The dream started for Black when he began his athletic career playing youth hockey.

At a young age, Black, the son of Alpena County Circuit Judge Ed Black, found himself all over the ice, playing different positions and working to see where he felt best. He eventually found himself between the poles and has been a record-breaking goalie since.

“I wasn’t always a goalie,” Black said. “I was thrown into the position at a tournament in Bay City one year, and I fell in love with the position from there.”

Since then, Black has been a goalie for multiple teams, including the Detroit-based Little Ceasars 15u AAA for the 2016-17 season, when his hockey career really kicked off.

“The first time I lived away from home was when I was 15,” Black said. “I’ve always had really amazing billet families that took me in and supported me while I was away from my family.”

Courtesy Photo Cooper Black, an Alpena High School 2019 graduate, stands ready to defend the net in a game played during his latest hockey season with Dartmouth College. On Monday, Black signed a contract with the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers organization to continue his athletic career.

Though leaving Alpena was tough for Black, he said the support from his family never wavered and they travel with him whenever they can.

“My parents lugged me around for all the games and practices they could, and I couldn’t be more grateful to them for that,” Black said.

The following year, Black made his way back home to play for Alpena High School’s hockey team, playing his junior and senior years for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.

Having Black on the team, the Wildcats saw some of their best seasons. He helped the team set the record for most wins in a season while also capturing Big North Conference and regional championships.

The goaltender also broke several records for wins, shutouts, save percentage, and goals-against average. His senior year, the team wrapped up with a 19-2 overall record, eight shutouts, a 0.964 save percentage, and a 0.87 goals-against average.

Also in Black’s senior season, he was named Alpena High’s Most Valuable Player and was awarded the Michigan Hockey Goalie of the Year award.

From there, he started seeing more recognition, and offers were put on the table.

“My senior year, I was originally planning to go to Michigan State University after graduation to probably study business or law,” Black said.

Instead, he claimed that he was “lucky” and started seeing opportunities to continue playing hockey.

After graduating from Alpena in 2019, Black made his way to Maryland to play in the North American Hockey League, followed by time spent in Omaha playing in the United States Hockey League. Each Junior Hockey league he played for offered a stepping stone in his continuing journey to advance his hockey career.

“I just kept saying, ‘Let’s see what I can do,’ when opportunities came,” Black said. “I’m just happy I decided to stick with it.”

“Sticking with it” led him to play Division I hockey at Dartmouth College, where he recently wrapped up the hockey season and will soon complete his sophomore year with the school.

“For me, the coaching staff and education was what really sold me,” Black told The News when he first verbally committed to Dartmouth in November 2020.

Since then, he said the team has become a family to him and he will be sad to leave them.

When his freshman year came around, playing in the 2022-23 season, Black started all 30 games between the pipes and rounded out the season with a 0.899 save percentage and a 3.07 goals-against average. Those stats only improved as he saw a 0.910 save percentage and 2.58 goals-against average in his sophomore year.

While at Dartmouth this past season, Black started receiving NHL offers from a few different teams. Looking for some support and guidance, Black turned to his family, who helped him make the decision.

“I talked to my parents about this decision,” Black said. “I wanted to make sure that they would be OK with it, too.”

His parents, though supportive, made clear to him that it was his decision to make.

“We gave him the space to make that decision on his own,” Ed Black said. “Of course, we wanted him to get a degree, but this is his dream, and we’ll support him as he follows it.”

Ultimately, with support from his family, Cooper Black decided that playing for and learning from the Panthers organization was all part of the dream he wanted to pursue.

“Deciding to leave Dartmouth and sign with the NHL was not easy,” Cooper Black said. “Not only was I leaving behind my education, but it was an Ivy League education. That was a tough decision, but I realized that I can always go back and get an education. Even when I’m 40, I could go back to school, but, for now, I wanted to see this through.”

His parents were on the same page.

“You only live once, and you get these opportunities when you’re young,” Ed Black said. “School will still be there when hockey is over, and he can hopefully get a degree then.”

Another major factor that played into deciding to sign with the Panthers was their goaltending coach, Roberto Luongo, whom Cooper Black said is “top-notch.”

“Playing for them was also appealing to me since I’d be learning from Luongo, who is very successful in the hockey world,” Cooper Black said.

Practice has already begun for Cooper Black, as he is in Charlotte now, visiting with the team. Despite being so far from home, he said Alpena will always be his home where he got his start.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone supporting me back in Alpena,” Cooper Black said. “It’s really special to have this small town — this corner of the world — rooting for me all the time.”

Cooper Black’s contract is a two-year, entry-level agreement. As the Panthers’ top affiliate, the Checkers receive many of the team’s top prospects and draft picks so that they may further their development.