Editor's note: This is the fourth in a series of articles highlighting the state's top seniors, players who declined opportunities to play elsewhere in favor of staying home and playing with their childhood buddies as they try to reach the state tournament.

Cooper Simpson is living a winter he won’t forget.

In Shakopee, where the state’s leading goal scorer and Mr. Hockey finalist grew up, there aren’t many hockey fans in town who will forget it either.

Simpson has led the Sabers to the program’s first state tournament berth in the Class AA era. It’s the dawn of an exciting new era for Shakopee hockey, and Cooper Simpson is the face of the rising new heavyweight from the edge of the southwest metro. 

“He’s a trailblazer,” Shakopee coach Calvin Simon said of Simpson. “He plays the game with vision, but it also took some vision for him to say, ‘Hey, I’m going to stay in Shakopee. I’m not going to go to this private school, or that private school, I’m not going to Shattuck, I’m not going AAA or prep someplace else, or (juniors). He chose this, and he’s traveled a different path.”

Simpson’s path had options, and it could have led elsewhere. Last year, he bookended the high school hockey season with a strong stint in the USHL, where he played 37 games for Tri-City, finished with 20 points and was a plus-6.

A University of North Dakota-commit, Simpson saw junior league options laid out before him again this year. Buthe wasn’t interested in forfeiting any part of his time in Shakopee. Needless to say, it has worked out well so far.

“Honestly, there is nothing better than Minnesota High School Hockey,” said Simpson, who has 47 goals this season. “Players come back for a chance at this moment … the chance to go to state.”

The 6-foot-1 and 185-pound forward has been a prolific goal-scorer for four seasons, with 107 goals and 230 points for his career. He plays with grit and compete and doesn’t back down from anything.

— Cooper Simpson, Shakopee senior forward

“He’s a pure goal scorer with great hands, and he plays with a bit of an edge,” Simon said of Simpson. “He’s more Matthew Tkachuk or Brad Marchand than he is Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby.”

“That’s who he is, right? Those are all obviously really good (NHL) names to be considered and compared with,” Simon added. “And we love that he plays with that edge. It’s a matter of the right control and balance.”

The balance and control have come over time. Simpson has 26 penalty minutes this season. Last season he finished with 14. Compare that to the 71 penalty minutes he logged as a sophomore, and it becomes a notable transformation.

“He’s figuring out how to play a mature game,” said junior defenseman and fellow captain Carson Steinhoff. “Coach Simon has spoken to us about that, about how to hold our emotions and to act like a grown man. Cooper has really embraced that, and he’s become a great captain and a great person.”

Steinhoff has played alongside Simpson on varsity for four seasons now, since Simpson was a freshman and Steinhoff was an eighth grader. Like everyone else, he marvels at Simpsons' consistency and playmaking ability, but he is more impressed with the unheralded dirty work Simpson puts in away from the puck. 

“Cooper is a dynamic, goal-scoring forward,” Steinhoff said. “But what gets overlooked is his defense. He’s on the first line, but he’s also killing penalties, winning battles in the corners and blocking shots. He’s a team-first guy. Everybody sees all the points he scores, but not everyone notices how hard he really works.”

Ask linemate Nate Pederson, and he tells a similar story. They find each other well on the ice. Along with Tristan Wassengeso, the trio has has scored over half (76) of the team’s 146 goals and have combined for a whopping 170 points. But in Simpson, Pederson sees a grinder first and offensive wizard second.

“Everyone notices what he can do when he has the puck, but he works his butt off when he doesn’t have it,” Pederson said. “There is so much more to his game than what people see. He covers all the details really well and finds the right spots to be at both ends.”

It’s been a whirlwind week for Shakopee and the community and certainly a dream come true for the Sabres, who’ve longed for this moment as long as they can recall. Not least of which is Simpson, who’s all but driving the bus. 

“I’m from Shakopee, born and raised,” he said. “Since I was a little kid, I’d go to the state tournament and think and wish that would be me one day. Now, it’s going to come true.”