During Stephen Cooper's long and distinguished career in British ice hockey he has been, for a prolonged period of time, undoubtedly the outstanding British born defenceman as well as an impeccable role model.
On the ice at left defence, Stephen assisted Durham and Cardiff to five consecutive league and championship doubles, including two grand slams, and made 61 appearances for Great Britain where he featured in GB’s quickfire climb from Pool D to A.
Along with younger brother lan - already a Hall of Fame member ~ Stephen epitomized the word professionalism and it was arguably the impact that these two brothers — and the likes of Tony Hand - had which laid the foundations for the boom in the sport at the back end of the 80 's and also encouraged the belief that professional hockey could be a go-er in the UK.
1966 was a good year for anyone to be born in England, better still if your destiny lay in sport. Stephen Cooper made his grand entrance to the world on 11th November in that year at Peterlee, Co Durham. It was whilst skating at Durham's old Riverside rink that Stephen and lan saw a poster advertising a testimonial for Kenny Matthews and duly went to watch their first game of hockey. A few weeks later and armed with an old stick, the boys went, to their first training session. Much of Stephen's early training took place at the newly opened Crowtree rink and between the ages of 9 and 14, Stephen played predominantly forward hockey. A move back to Durham during this time had seen Stephen catch the eye and by the time he was 13 he was playing for both the Juniors (Durham Mosquitoes) and the Wasps "B" team, the Hornets. Along with a variety of training sessions for the respective teams it already meant that Stephen was lacing up his skates on average six days a week.
Having been identified as defensive potential, Stephen duly moved back onto defence and found that he liked it. He was also guided another North East defenceman (who later became a referee and is also a Hall of Famer) Micky Curry. Indeed it was Curry who taught Stephen the finer points of defensive hockey.
Stephen made his debut for the senior Wasps in the 1980-81 season and was quick to catch the eye. By 82-83 he had already won silverware as Wasps topped the tougher of two English sections in the British League and a truly national league loomed on the horizon.
In the following five season's in Durham colours, Stephen's reputation as a defenceman of real quality grew. By the time Cardiff Devils made a move on him in the summer of 1988 he had added two Premier Division and two British (Play-Off) Championship titles to his collection of medals but perhaps more importantly, his presence in any team was considered to be the equivalent value (or more) of any import in the country.
The opportunities offered by the move to Cardiff meant that despite dropping a level, Stephen could afford to quit the day job and become a full time hockey player. It was a gamble on both sides, but both sides benefited enormously: for Cooper his game scaled new heights and for Cardiff he was the rock on which their assault on the upper echelons of British Ice Hockey was founded.
Enjoying new found levels of strength and endurance, Cooper continued to play his hard hitting, energy sapping brand of hockey, regularly clocking up 45-50 minutes per match and leading by thoroughbred example as Devils lifted the division title, won the promotion play-offs to gain entry to the Premier Division, and lifted the Autumn Trophy. Indeed, such was the magnitude of his presence, that Stephen Cooper was a formality when the All-Star selections came to be made.
Back in the top flight. Cooper maintained his high level of performance and example as Cardiff overturned odds of 500-1 and clinched the Premier title followed by what is arguably the most dramatic British Championship ever. Pitched against arch rivals Murrayfield Racers, Devils never led but it was Stephen Cooper who charged up ice and shook off the attentions of Racers defencemen to connect with a pass from his brother and snatch a goal just 95 seconds from the end of regulation play, tying the game 6-6 and forcing an inconclusive overtime.
The subsequent 24 penalty shoot-out victory before a packed Wembley went Cardiff s way and remains one of his most enduring memories.
That summer - realizing the mistake they had made - Durham offered full professional wages. With the call of home proving strong Stephen's return - along with that of his brother - proved a decisive factor in transforming their home town outfit. Durham duly raced to a grand slam of HB League, Championship and NU Autumn Cup titles - Stephen racking up 118 points but continuing to frequently clock 50 minutes a night in helping shore up his sides rearguard. After helping Wasps retain the League and Championship he returned to Cardiff in 1992.
During the next four years at Cardiff, two league, two championship and an Autumn Cup medal were added to Stephen's trophy cabinet, but he also featured in Devils superb European triumph when, in the autumn of '94 Devils beat two former Soviet Elite teams to become the first British team to earn a place in the Europa Cup semi-finals. Injury forced him to miss those semi-finals and in the summer of '96, Cooper left Cardiff to join John Lawless at Manchester for the start of Superleague.
The introduction of Superleague meant a change of climate in the British game. Some oj the "finer points" of the defensive game - such as the oh-so-difficult-to-pull-off centre ice hit - for which Cooper had been so well known disappeared as the game increased in quality but also lost much of it's free flowing nature.
In the later years of his career, Cooper completed two years at Manchester and played at Newcastle and Nottingham (both ISL) before gracing BNL at Hull and finally two seasons at Coventry. His last club have marked his retirement by hanging his shirt in the rafters, an honour most clubs rarely bestow on players.
Cooper's rapier-like slapshot, which earned him big points for a defenceman even in the best of company, allied with his positional sense and physical presence ensured that he remained Britain's best homegrown defenceman throughout the latter stages of his career. Indeed his position at the top of this particular tree has only been threatened briefly and periodically through more than a decade of British hockey.
Cooper's prominence in the specialized art of defence meant that over a decade or more at the top of an ever-improving British game, he was more valuable than an import. His superiority at this level best demonstrated by the BIHWA Alan Weeks Award, presented annually to the Best British Defenceman. Introduced in 1989, Cooper won it nine times between 1990 and 2000, including five straight from 1990-95, arguably only losing out in 94-95 because of the long term injury which also kept him out of those Europa Cup semi's.
Over his 22 years at the upper levels of the game in Britain, Stephen has been an example to all youngsters of how to play the worlds fastest sport in an uncompromising but sporting manner.
On the ice Stephen Cooper was the epitomy of the physical defenceman, hard working, hard hitting and hard to follow. It is in recognition of his outstanding and prolonged level of performance in this difficult yet vital part of a hockey team that Stephen Cooper has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Stephen married in the summer of 2001 and, having retired at the back end of the 2001-2002 season, has set up home in Manchester where he is selling motor cars.
Biography researched and compiled by Anthony Beer & Gordon Wade 2003
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