Tampa Bay Lightning: Jon Cooper’s future as Head Coach

After a rough four straight losses to end the Tampa Bay Lightning’s season, it will be a long and eventful offseason to rebuild this team.

It is officially Day Three of the offseason. The shock of the past week is still very much alive. In case you somehow missed it, the Tampa Bay Lightning, otherwise known as the President’s Trophy winner, lost in Round 1 of the playoffs against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Not only did Coach Jon Cooper’s team lose, they got swept. Just like that in six days of the postseason, the run is over.

As much as we want to forget that this never happened and move on with our lives, some major decisions within the organization could be made this offseason. Something that has seemed to surface social media is whether or not head coach Jon Cooper will remain with the Bolts.

Cooper in late March signed a multi-year contract extension as the Bolts were headed towards a record-breaking regular season.

We asked Bolts Nation their thoughts of what should or should not happen to Cooper now that the playoffs are over for the Lightning. On Twitter, 56 percent said Cooper should be fired, compared to 78 percent on Facebook claiming that Cooper should stay.

The Facebook poll had 699 votes, compared to the Twitter’s 198 votes.

Since the season’s end for the Bolts, General Manager Julien BriseBois has stated there will not be many changes to the team or the coaching staff this offseason.

Despite the disappointing end to the season, Cooper and this team have much to be proud of. 62 wins is not an easy task, and for some reason, those wins did not show in the postseason. Does that mean there needs to be a new coach in because of this early exit? No, not necessarily. Does it mean there needs to be a change made in how the playoffs are run within the organization? Absolutely.

There are many different people or situations that can be blamed for this short postseason. The fact that goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, defenseman Victor Hedman and others were all battling injuries is one reason. Having too much confidence as a team and then crumbling in the third period of Game One is another. The list goes on and on. The fact of the matter is, this can not be put on one person’s shoulders, and it should not be on Cooper’s.

If Cooper can lead this team to countless Eastern Conference Finals and a 62 win season, then I think he can lead this team to a Stanley Cup Championship. However, it needs to be soon.