Brian Cooper is now free to talk about scoring the biggest goal of his hockey career.

The former Omaha captain, currently playing professionally for IK Oskarshamn of the Swedish Hockey League, is a member of the United States team headed to Beijing, China, for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Cooper received the invite from USA Hockey on Sunday, but he was asked to keep quiet about the news until the U.S. team's roster was officially released during "The Point" on ESPN2 late Thursday afternoon.

"It was pretty surreal – a roller coaster of emotions," Cooper said from Sweden. "To go from excited to let down to [having] maybe little hope to stress and then relief, it was a whirlwind of about five days."

Now, he will have plenty of days of anticipation, and planning, leading up to the Olympic Games. The opening ceremony in Beijing is scheduled for Feb. 4. The men's hockey competition will begin on Feb. 9.

Cooper can now laugh about his path to Team USA, but it's been no joking matter. His story began with someone asking if he'd talked to his agent about the possibilities if NHL players don't go to the Games.

Encouraged by his wife, Lindsey, Cooper reached out to his Massachusetts-based agent Matt Keator, who knows U.S. head coach – and former Omaha assistant – David Quinn and others within the USA Hockey organization. Keator told him he'd speak with the USA folks and see what develops from there.

"This was right before Christmas," Cooper said. "And I was like, man, this could be a thing."

The 28-year-old defenseman's outlook quickly soured, however, when he saw an early list of potential players for the U.S. team. It was littered with college players. He is in his sixth full professional season.

"That list came out, and I see the college guys. And I know they're studs, but I'm like, 'Come on, we've got to get some older guys in,'" Cooper said. "Whatever. I'm upset. I was letting the text messages fly."

A few days after that, he was texting with Keator. They decided to reach out to USA Hockey again. The agent returned with promising news. Cooper still had a chance to land a spot on the Team USA roster.

"They liked the 100 penalty minutes you had last year," Keator informed Cooper. "And they think they can bring some grit and character and steady play from you so they're going to rewatch some film."

Keator asked if he could throw together a short highlight video, which Cooper now laughs about. How was he to find clips to send when he predicates his game on steady play that would have him not stand out on film? He couldn't even include his lone goal from this season because it came with an empty net.

With the help of his defensive coach at Oskarshamn, Cooper got nearly three minutes of footage, with music, for Keator to send to USA Hockey. He then reached out to U.S. assistant coach Mike Hastings.

Hastings, the head coach at Minnesota State, recruited Cooper – an Anchorage, Alaska, native – while he was the associate head coach in Omaha under Dean Blais. Cooper joked that Hastings "still owes me one for recruiting me to UNO then bailing on me to go to Mankato." He texted that he hoped Hastings and his family were doing well and "hopefully you can see in me what you saw in me to bring me to UNO."

Cooper sent the video with his text, but he received no response. Hastings responded to him hours later.

"He texted me Sunday at 7 p.m. our time and said, 'Good to hear from you, talk soon,'" Cooper said. "I was like, 'Ooh, that's a good sign.' An hour and a half to two hours later, my agent called me and said, 'Congrats.' I'm like, 'No way!' Then I got the call from the GM with the formal question to get invited."

Cooper said Thursday's official announcement of the U.S. roster couldn't come soon enough. Now, he can talk about making the team, noting that some wouldn't have believed him if he could've told them.

The former Omaha defenseman said his duties with IK Oskarshamn will keep him preoccupied until he meets up with his U.S. teammates. Cooper is in his second season with the club after spending a year with IF Björklöven in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden's second league. He broke into European hockey with AIK in 2019 after playing just 24 games in the Nashville minor-league system due to injury that season.

Cooper was drafted by Anaheim in 2012 and began his pro career with its American Hockey League affiliate in San Diego in 2016. He spent two full seasons in the Ducks organization before moving on.

While in Omaha, he was an integral part of some of the best teams in program history. The Mavericks reached their highest ranking to date in the opening weeks of his senior season. He was a junior on the team that advance to the 2015 Frozen Four, earning all-tournament honors at the Midwest Regional.

Cooper said he'll be drawing upon his experience from Omaha's run to Boston as Beijing nears.

"I'm going to try to take what I know from something like that," he said. "Obviously, this is a bigger stage but the same kind of moment. I'll try to channel the butterflies a little better. It was overwhelming."

Cooper said he'll join up with Team USA with almost no expectations. He thinks he'll be America's seventh or eighth defenseman, which he's fine with. He knows he'll have to earn his playing time.

"Worse case: I could skate, work hard and battle," he said. "That's what's nice about the game I play. I can fall back on those and play a good game. … And I'm lucky in that aspect. I'm not being picked on this team to make game-winning goals and light up the power play. I'm in here to set the tone physically, defensively, and get the puck into our talented forwards' hands and take care of business."