Jon Cooper (ice hockey)

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Jon Cooper
Luke Richardson and Jon Cooper AHL All-Star Classic 2013.jpg
Cooper (right) at the 2013 AHL All-Star Game
Born (1967-08-23) August 23, 1967 (age 56)
Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
Current position Head coach
Current team Tampa Bay Lightning
Stanley Cup wins 2020
Years as a coach 2001–present
Years as an NHL coach 2013–present
Years with current team 2013–present

Jonathan D. Cooper[1] (born August 23, 1967) is a Canadian-American professional ice hockey coach who is the head coach for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the Stanley Cup in 2020 as the Lightning head coach, and is currently the longest-tenured coach in the NHL.[2]

Coaching career

Minor-league teams

Cooper began his coaching career in junior hockey as an assistant with the Capital Centre Pride of the North American Hockey League. At that time the Pride were working closely with the Metro Jets of the Central States Hockey League (now North American 3 Hockey League). The Jets owner and Governor, Butch Wolfe, gave Cooper his first chance as a head coach with the Jets. During the 2001–02 season, Cooper led the Jets to the Silver Cup - the USA Hockey National Junior B Championship.[3]

In 2003, Cooper returned to the North American Hockey League (NAHL) to coach the expansion Texarkana Bandits. In 2004–05 he was named the NAHL Coach of the Year. Cooper continued with the Bandits franchise when it relocated to St. Louis in 2006–07. During the 2006–07 season, the Bandits captured the Robertson Cup as league champion. The following season the Bandits would once again capture the Robertson Cup. Additionally, Cooper won his second NAHL Coach of the Year that season. Cooper spent a total of five seasons coaching in the NAHL before moving on to coach the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League.[4]

Cooper was the coach of the United States Hockey League (USHL)'s Green Bay Gamblers starting in 2008. He led the team in 2008–09 and 2009–10 to a record of 84–27–9.[5] In 2010, the team won the Clark Cup for the League's championship.[5]

In 2010, Cooper was hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning to coach the Norfolk Admirals, the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. During the 2011–12 season, the Admirals won the Calder Cup as the AHL's champions.[6] The Admirals also set the record for the longest regular season winning streak at 28 games in a row.[7][8] Additionally, Cooper won the 2012 Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL's most outstanding head coach.[9]

For the 2012–13 season, Cooper became the head coach of the Syracuse Crunch after the Lightning changed their AHL affiliation.[10] In 65 games with the Crunch, Cooper led the team to a 39–18–3–5 record, the best in the AHL at the time of his promotion.[11]

Tampa Bay Lightning

On March 25, 2013, following the dismissal of head coach Guy Boucher,[12] the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that Cooper would become the eighth head coach in franchise history.[13] After leading the Lightning to their best season in franchise history in points (108) and wins (50), Cooper coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to their second Prince of Wales Trophy as the Eastern Conference champion.[14] The Lightning lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals.[15]

On March 22, 2016, Cooper recorded his 143rd win as the Lightning's head coach. The win moved Cooper past Terry Crisp for second all-time in wins in franchise history.[16] On November 8, 2017, Cooper recorded his 200th career win as head coach of the Lightning. Cooper joined John Tortorella as the only coaches in franchise history to record 200 wins.[17][18] On January 7, 2018, Cooper was named as head coach of the Atlantic Division for the 63rd National Hockey League All-Star Game, which was played at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. The selection was because the Lightning were the team with the highest points percentage in the Atlantic Division.[19] On March 30, 2018, Cooper recorded his 240th career NHL win against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.[20] The win moved Cooper past John Tortorella for most wins in franchise history.[21]

On January 5, 2019, Cooper was named to the 2019 National Hockey League All-Star Game.[22] This was Cooper's second consecutive selection to the NHL All-Star game.[23] On March 18, 2019, Cooper coached the Lightning to their first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history with a victory over the visiting Arizona Coyotes at Amalie Arena.[24] On March 21, 2019, Cooper recorded his 300th career NHL win in a 6–3 Lightning win over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena.[25] On March 26, 2019, Cooper signed a multi-year contract extension to remain as the head coach of the Lightning.[26] On April 1, 2019, Cooper coached the Lightning to their 60th win of the season. With the win, the Lightning became only the 3rd team in NHL history to reach the mark and Cooper became the second coach in NHL history to reach the mark.[27][28] Cooper's Tampa Bay Lightning that season were then swept in the first round by the Columbus Blue Jackets, making them the first team to win the Presidents' Trophy and not win a single post-season game in the same year.

On September 28, 2020, Cooper led the Lightning to franchise's second Stanley Cup, when they beat the Dallas Stars in six games. Cooper stated after the win that the team drew inspiration from the Virginia Cavaliers men's basketball program. Similar to the Lightning's playoff defeat in 2019, top-seeded Virginia was defeated in their opening game by a 16th seed in the 2018 national tournament, the first such occurrence of a 16 vs. 1 upset in the history of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. One year later, Virginia won the national championship.[29]

On May 30, 2021, Cooper coached the Lightning to a 2–1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena in his 100th career NHL playoff game.[30][31]

International

On November 13, 2015, Team North America general manager, Peter Chiarelli, named Cooper as an assistant coach for the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Cooper served as an assistant coach with Peter DeBoer, Dave Tippett and Jay Woodcroft under Team North America head coach Todd McLellan.[32]

On April 11, 2017, Hockey Canada named Cooper as the head coach of Canada's men's national ice hockey team for the 2017 IIHF World Championship tournament. Cooper was joined by assistant coaches Gerard Gallant, Dave Hakstol, and Dave King.[33] On May 21, 2017, Cooper coached Team Canada to a silver medal. Team Canada lost to Team Sweden 2–1 in a shootout.[34]

Personal life

Cooper was born in Prince George, British Columbia. He played high school hockey at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan. He graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration from Hofstra University in 1989. Despite his prior lacrosse experience being that of the box variety, he was a field lacrosse letterman in each of the first four years of John Danowski's tenure as the varsity program's head coach. An attackman who eventually transitioned into a midfielder,[35] Cooper scored 74 goals with 25 assists for 99 points and was a member of East Coast Conference championship teams as a junior and senior. He also played one year of club hockey during his time at Hofstra.[36]

He graduated from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan.[9] Prior to his career as a hockey coach, Cooper served as a public defender for 11 years.[37] Cooper started playing hockey again while attending law school, ultimately leading to Cooper's first experience coaching hockey at Lansing Catholic Central High School.[37] Cooper would eventually land a job with the St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), which led to other coaching positions.[37]

Cooper is a dual citizen of the United States and Canada.[38] Cooper's mother was American, while his father was Canadian.[37] Cooper and his wife Jessie have twin daughters and a son.[9]

On September 16, 2016, the creation of the annual Coop's Catch for Kids charity fishing tournament was announced. The event is being done in partnership with the V Foundation. The tournament's purpose is for benefiting pediatric cancer research at Moffitt Cancer Center and All Children's Hospital. The event was launched from the Tampa Convention Center docks and consisted of a catch and release inshore grand slam tournament. Anglers were fishing for snook, redfish, and trout. Each boat featured a Lightning player or celebrity. The inaugural event was held on October 11.[39]

Head coaching record

NHL

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L OTL Pts Finish W L Win% Result
TBL 2012–13* 16 5 8 3 (13) 4th in Southeast — — — Missed playoffs
TBL 2013–14 82 46 27 9 101 2nd in Atlantic 0 4 .000 Lost in First Round
TBL 2014–15 82 50 24 8 108 2nd in Atlantic 14 12 .538 Lost in Stanley Cup Finals
TBL 2015–16 82 46 31 5 97 2nd in Atlantic 11 6 .647 Lost in Conference Finals
TBL 2016–17 82 42 30 10 94 5th in Atlantic — — — Missed playoffs
TBL 2017–18 82 54 23 5 113 1st in Atlantic 11 6 .647 Lost in Conference Finals
TBL 2018–19 82 62 16 4 128 1st in Atlantic 0 4 .000 Lost in First Round
TBL 2019–20 70 43 21 6 92 2nd in Atlantic 18 7 .720 Won Stanley Cup
TBL 2020–21 56 36 17 3 75 3rd in Central       TBD
Total 634 384 197 53   2 division titles 54 39 .581 7 playoff appearances

* – mid-season replacement

AHL

Team Year Regular season Postseason
G W L OTL Pts Finish W L Win% Result
NOR 2010–11 80 39 26 15 93 4th in East Division 2 4 .333 Lost in First Round
NOR 2011–12 76 55 18 3 113 1st in East Division 15 3 .833 Won Calder Cup
SYR 2012–13* 65 39 18 8 86 1st in East Division — — — Promoted to Tampa Bay
Total 221 133 62 26   2 division titles 17 7 .708 2 playoff appearances

* – promoted to Tampa Bay on March 25, 2013[11]

Coaching honors

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  31. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lorenzo, Stephen. "From Hofstra to Tampa Bay Lightning coach: Jon Cooper's road to the NHL," New York Daily News, Friday, May 15, 2015.
  36. ↑ Gorchov, Stephen. "Hofstra Alumnus Jon Cooper Leads Tampa Bay Lightning Into NHL’s Eastern Conference Finals," Hofstra University Athletics, Friday, May 15, 2015.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[permanent dead link]
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  40. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  41. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning
2013–present		 Succeeded by
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