As a youth, Cooper played in the 1987
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Winnipeg South Monarchs
minor ice hockey team. After playing four seasons in the
Western Hockey League with the
Medicine Hat Tigers, Cooper made his professional debut with Buffalo's
American Hockey League affiliate, the
Rochester Americans, in the
1993 Calder Cup Playoffs. Cooper then played three full seasons with the Sabres' organization, with the Americans as well as the team's
ECHL affiliate, the
South Carolina Stingrays. Cooper made his
National Hockey League debut with the
Toronto Maple Leafs during the
1996–97 season, appearing in 19 games and scoring three goals. Cooper would play nine more games with Toronto in
1997–98 and two more in
2000–01, giving him a total of 30 games played in the NHL. In his brief NHL career, Cooper scored three goals and added seven assists. Cooper also played in Germany's
Deutsche Eishockey Liga, the
Russian Hockey Super League, the Danish
Oddset Ligaen and Italy's
Serie A before retiring from the game. ==Career statistics==