Mark Cooper admits that he had given some thought to hanging up his skates during the closed season but he says that his eager to get back to Belfast to see what lies ahead for the 2023/4 season.
Speaking from his home in Canada to the News Letter he explained how he had some time for reflection on whether not it was time to retire.
He said he took time to chat it over with his girlfriend and family and then reached the decision that now was not the time to call it a day, and thus he is back for a third season in Teal.
Speaking from his home in Canada to the News Letter he explained how he had some time for reflection on whether not it was time to retire.
He said he took time to chat it over with his girlfriend and family and then reached the decision that now was not the time to call it a day, and thus he is back for a third season in Teal.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 So first off, Mark, thanks for joining us. I know it's early morning with you back over
00:12 in Toronto, so really appreciate you coming on this week call with me over here in Belfast
00:18 this afternoon. So you've re-signed for the Giants for third season, you must be really
00:24 looking forward to getting back over here again? Yeah, no, I can't wait. I was unsure
00:32 whether I wanted to kind of retire from hockey and look at other options, kind of after last
00:39 season after the incredible three trophies, but ultimately, like Belfast has felt like
00:46 home for my girlfriend and I, and we really like it and we wanted to come back and see
00:57 if we can build on kind of the last two years as our teams kind of won a bunch in a row
01:05 and hopefully continue the good trends in this upcoming season. So how has your summer
01:12 been since you returned back home to Canada from Belfast? It's been good, busy. When you're
01:20 only home for three months a year, you got to see all your friends and family. So the
01:25 weekends have been busy and I've been training, I've been playing in a men's league with some
01:31 of my buddies, men's hockey league, it's been fun. And that's kind of it, just relaxing
01:38 as much as possible before the grind of the season kind of hits off. Yeah, as you say,
01:44 you're back home for three months and then you're back here for nearly nine months. How
01:52 do you find splitting your time between Canada and Northern Ireland? It's different. You're
02:01 obviously only back here in the summers, which you get the good months of Canada, so that's
02:07 great. But it's different. I've been doing this my whole life, or at least since I moved
02:14 away when I was 19. So I'm used to living in two places, but one of the things we wanted
02:24 to do is potentially make Belfast more of a permanent place. So that's kind of what
02:30 our plan is. So we'll see where next summer goes. But it's fun. It's weird switching up
02:41 there and there, here and there. But overall, you get to see lots of friends and the people
02:46 I grew up with. So it's awesome. Yeah. So tell me a little about the decision to return
02:51 over here to Belfast. How did that come about? Has there been discussions over the last couple
02:57 of months with Kiefer and the team back here in Belfast? Yeah, I just kind of stayed in
03:04 touch with Steve and Kiefer. I really wasn't sure, and I think they were ready to move
03:13 on. Not move on, but I was ready to maybe shut it down hockey-wise. And then I had some
03:24 chats with some family and friends and wasn't quite ready. So I reached out to Kiefer and
03:30 Thorts and then we agreed on some good stuff and couldn't be more excited to be coming
03:40 back in August and starting off in Champions League and hopefully getting another treble.
03:45 So obviously, looking back at last season, it was a massive season for you. It was a
03:51 massive season for the Giants. How do you prepare to come back and build upon that?
04:00 Yeah, I think we have a good core group coming back with Longer, Laker, Whistle, Besko, Garside.
04:11 Hopefully I got everyone. Dicko. But I think the core group's essential and we've set the
04:18 bar since, I guess, post-COVID or the re-round of the Giants that winning is kind of what
04:26 we do. We've set the bar, we've set the standard, and I think that with those core group coming
04:35 back, we're losing a bit of offense with Conway, Goodwin, and Howery. But last year we lost
04:44 Picknitch and Howery stepped in and did great. So there will be replacements and I think
04:54 the team we've put together so far, it's really exciting and can't wait to meet the guys in
05:01 August and then hit the ice, I guess, against Cardiff would be our first game.
05:08 So obviously with the season coming up, there'll be a lot of teams in the HL who will be looking
05:15 to pinch a trophy or two from you guys. You know that they're going to come hot for you
05:21 for the Giants this season?
05:23 Yeah, we kind of had a target on our back last year and especially at the start when
05:32 we had a slow start last year. But we had a target on our back and it's a privilege
05:39 to have that, you know, it obviously means you've had success in the past. So I think
05:46 we're used to it and we're ready for anyone. We love the rivalries, but I know those other
05:52 teams want to take points from us as well. So it'll be exciting and lots to look forward
06:01 to.
06:02 And as you alluded to earlier on there, with teams, with the sport, you know, across the
06:09 world, guys come and guys go. It's just part of life of being a member of a hockey team?
06:16 Yeah, yeah. You meet a lot of good people and they're sometimes just nine-month friendships
06:27 but they extend into multiple seasons. I've met some of my best friends in hockey, even
06:35 if I've only played for them for nine months. But it's come and go. It's the business we
06:43 live in and we just make do. And I know Keith and Thortz are extremely good recruiters.
06:53 So I'm sure they're putting together a great bunch of guys and they do their homework on
07:00 guys. So I'm excited to see and meet everyone.
07:05 And obviously we've lost Goody this year. That's a big loss because he was such a great
07:13 leader. What are your thoughts on David and him going on elsewhere?
07:25 David is one of my good buddies. We actually roomed together my first year in Belfast and
07:31 we became great friends and we're a good support system for each other. So I definitely will
07:41 keep in touch with him throughout the year. But he'll definitely be missed. He's an incredible
07:47 captain and a great leader. He was a major part of why we were so successful the last
07:54 two seasons.
07:55 Yeah, and obviously Sam has gone off to Germany. He was huge in defence, quite literally huge
08:01 in defence. And also probably the nicest fellow you could ever meet. He'll be hard to replace.
08:09 Yeah, Sammy is one of my good buddies I've met in professional hockey too. He's a great
08:16 guy. He's just a really good person and he'll definitely be missed. A good player, definitely
08:25 be missed as a guy and definitely as a player. He had a really breakout season last year.
08:31 But I think he'll do great in Germany and I'm excited to see where his career goes.
08:39 And then obviously there has been much lamenting of the loss of Scott Conway to Slovakia. It
08:49 didn't come as a surprise but that firepower, he'll be missed but you have to wish him well
08:58 going off to Slovakia.
08:59 Yeah, I guess back to back 100 point seasons will be very hard to replace. But Scott's
09:07 an incredibly competitive guy practising games and I think he set the tone for a lot of games,
09:13 scoring early and scoring big goals. So he'll definitely be missed. He was a great team-mate,
09:20 a great guy. So that's a tough one to swallow but we do wish him luck or wish him success
09:29 in Slovakia. He's a great player and he'll find success wherever he goes.
09:35 Yeah, and as you've mentioned, Kiefer and Thornts and the team back here in Belfast,
09:42 they've been putting together a really exciting new look team. There's a lot of returning
09:51 guys, core guys who are returning but there's a lot of really, really interesting players
09:56 coming over like Brega, Sato. Even the big defence guys that were signed a couple of
10:08 weeks ago, they're all very interesting additions to the Giants.
10:14 Yeah, I played with and against Travis Brown and against Jacob Friend and they're both
10:20 great defenders. Jacob Friend's really hard to play against. I was really glad to see
10:26 him join our team versus another team. And then Travis Brown, he's an extremely skilled
10:32 guy and I played with him briefly in San Antonio just for a couple of games but he seems like
10:40 a really good guy. I think our defence core is definitely going to be one of our strengths
10:47 next year. Sorry, that's the garbage truck in the background picking up garbage.
10:56 It's exciting and then I think we're bringing in some high offensive guys with Brega. I've
11:01 heard Sato's got some great speed. So it's exciting. We'll see how everyone fits in together.
11:09 There'll definitely be some line shuffling and stuff but it's going to be a good year
11:16 and we've just got to hit the ground running and enjoy our time.
11:23 Obviously, Matty McLeod is back. He lit up the arena whenever he moved over in February.
11:33 We can only expect the same.
11:36 Yeah, he brought newfound energy to our team with his speed and as a guy. He's a great
11:46 guy and I'm really excited to have him back and see him flying around the ice. It's lots
11:52 of fun to watch.
11:54 And obviously, before the season kicks off, you have a bit of pre-season with Glasgow
12:03 and Cardiff. But then obviously you've got the CHL again this season. That must be something
12:10 that you're looking forward to, getting a chance to play in the CHL again.
12:15 Yeah, for sure. I think the new format might suit us well actually, just being the underdog.
12:25 I think it's exciting that. And then we get that trip to Finland early in the year. It'll
12:29 be a good team building trip, playing some really good teams. I think the CHL actually
12:36 helped us last year. Maybe it didn't seem like it just because of our slow start to
12:40 the season, but I think it pushed us in the long run to become a better team and some
12:46 good team building as well with the travel and stuff like that.
12:50 And obviously you're going to get to play the CHL Champions, Pampara, in Finland. That's
12:58 massive to get to go to Nokia Arena and get to play those guys.
13:02 Yeah, I've heard that arena is incredible from the GB guys who played there at the last
13:09 World Championships. And that's going to be a really cool experience. And we'll see how
13:19 we fare against them. I think last year, the CHL, we struggled on the special teams, but
13:25 five on five, we hung in there with most of those teams. So maybe a focus on that and
13:31 just seeing where we match up against the best in Europe.
13:34 Yeah, and obviously you've got Bolzano at home and you've got Salzburg as well from
13:41 Austria. Teams that, whenever they come into the SSE, might get a bit of a surprise with
13:50 the power of the Giants.
13:52 Yeah, I agree. I think last year, the three home games we had, we came out physical and
14:01 kind of set the tone early. And I know our fans will be screaming and chanting the whole
14:07 game. So it's exciting. Hopefully we can make some noise in the CHL this year, get more
14:13 than one shootout victory like we did last year.
14:17 And finally, this is just a wee opportunity for you to, if you want to say anything to
14:23 the fans who might be watching this video over the next couple of weeks, have you any
14:29 message for everybody back here in Belfast?
14:32 Yeah, just super excited to come back and play in front of you guys. The hospitality
14:41 away from the rink of the people of Belfast and then the support from the fans on the
14:47 ice has been incredible the past two years. And it's a major reason why we've decided
14:53 to come back and extremely excited and can't wait to get things going.
14:57 Great.