I含羞草研究社檝e always been amazed by Jon Cooper含羞草研究社檚 journey to the NHL.
Never mind the 3,256 miles from Cooper含羞草研究社檚 home town of Prince George, B.C. to Tampa Bay, Florida, his route to being behind the bench for the Lightning has been a rather unorthodox one.
While most coaches have resumes that includes playing time in the NHL, Cooper does not.
He played hockey and lacrosse growing up and eventually wound up attending the prestigious Notre Dame Academy in Wilcox, Saskatchewan where he realized his dream of playing in the NHL wasn含羞草研究社檛 going to happen.
Cooper shifted his focus to lacrosse and wound up attending Hofstra University where he was a letterman for four years while earning a business degree. From there, it was off to Lansing, Michigan where he graduated from Cooley Law School and practiced law for five years.
Michigan is also where he became a coach for the first time with Lansing Catholic School. From there, Cooper had stints as a head coach in various developmental leagues in the U.S. before the Lightning hired him to run their AHL team in Norfolk.
The common denominator among all those stops?
Cooper won championships at every level, which was a harbinger of things to come in the NHL.
According to J.T. Miller of the Canucks, it含羞草研究社檚 the reason why Cooper has overcome the stigma of not ever having played in the league.
含羞草研究社淗e含羞草研究社檚 been a winner on all levels. It含羞草研究社檚 just in his nature to win. He has that swagger within him and I think he含羞草研究社檇 be the first to tell you. He also carries a confidence with the system that they含羞草研究社檙e trying to preach,含羞草研究社� said Miller, who played for Cooper in Tampa during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
So when the Lightning came to Vancouver sporting a 13-11-5 record prior to Tuesday night含羞草研究社檚 4-1 loss to the Canucks, I was wondering how Cooper was handling the situation with his team being on the playoff bubble.
含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檝e worked our tails off. We含羞草研究社檙e just a different team. We have so many new faces now and guys in different roles. There含羞草研究社檚 been a lot of turnover but we含羞草研究社檝e got a group that works their tail off. If we keep working, we含羞草研究社檒l be okay,含羞草研究社� Cooper explained after the game.
Now the longest tenured coach in the league, Cooper is looking to get his hockey club back to a championship level.
One of the primary reasons for the Lighting含羞草研究社檚 success over the years has been their ability to lock-down opponents when required but that含羞草研究社檚 not been the case this year as they have now given up 106 goals which is tied for second worst in the league.
Not having all-world netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy available for the first 20 games of the season as he recovered from off-season back surgery didn含羞草研究社檛 help matters but the Russian含羞草研究社檚 return does have the team trending in the right direction as his 2.74 GAA would indicate.
含羞草研究社淭here含羞草研究社檚 no question we have to get better defensively. You can含羞草研究社檛 win in this league unless you do that. It含羞草研究社檚 been tough for us. I think at the beginning, we were just been giving up way too many odd man rushes and shooting ourselves in the foot. It feels like in the first third of the year here we didn含羞草研究社檛 give up a chance forever, and when we did, it wound up in our net but we含羞草研究社檙e growing as a team. There are a lot of good things to pull from, but for sure the goals against, that含羞草研究社檚 the one we含羞草研究社檝e got to clean up,含羞草研究社� said Cooper.
Despite their troubles defensively, Cooper feels optimistic about a group that含羞草研究社檚 led by the likes of Vasilevskiy, Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Brayden Point among others.
含羞草研究社淎t some point, it will start clicking for us. There are times like this during a season. This year, it含羞草研究社檚 happened during the beginning. Other years it含羞草研究社檚 happened during the middle of the year. The big thing for us is that we can含羞草研究社檛 fall too far behind in the standings because it is hard to comeback,含羞草研究社� said Cooper.
Now in his 12th year behind the bench for the Lightning with two Stanley Cups to his credit and two other Cup Final appearances, you含羞草研究社檇 think burnout might be an issue with Cooper but that含羞草研究社檚 not the case.
He actually chuckled when asked about it.
含羞草研究社淚 just love the competition. There含羞草研究社檚 nothing like game day含羞草研究社eing behind the bench含羞草研究社rying to outdo the other team. That fire still burns. Even though we含羞草研究社檝e been to a few finals and won a couple of Cups, I feel like we haven含羞草研究社檛 won anything. So there含羞草研究社檚 still a lot fire there,含羞草研究社� said Cooper.
OVERTIME
Fun Factoid 含羞草研究社� Cooper played two games for the Western Lacrosse Association含羞草研究社檚 Richmond Outlaws in 1988, recording a goal and an assist.
Brock Boeser含羞草研究社檚 three goals in the Canucks win propelled him into a tie with Toronto含羞草研究社檚 Auston Matthews for the league led in goals with 21. It was the fifth hat trick of Boeser含羞草研究社檚 career. Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was quick to point out in his post-game comments that it含羞草研究社檚 Boeser含羞草研究社檚 defensive play that has impressed him the most. 含羞草研究社淗e含羞草研究社檚 a smart guy and knows the spots to go at but he含羞草研究社檚 sharpened up his defensive game. He still wants to get better at his defensive game but it含羞草研究社檚 night-and-day from last year,含羞草研究社� said Tocchet.
Next up for the Canucks is a visit from the Florida Panthers Thursday night at Rogers Arena. The organization will induct Roberto Luongo into its Ring of Honour prior to the game.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob 含羞草研究社渢he Moj含羞草研究社� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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