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Tampa Bay Lightning: Jon Cooper is a reminder why leadership matters

ByBenjamin Henderson|
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 05: Head coach Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning handles the bench against the New York Rangers during the second period at Madison Square Garden on April 05, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 05: Head coach Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning handles the bench against the New York Rangers during the second period at Madison Square Garden on April 05, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

It seems like just yesterday that Jon Cooper was announced as the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. If you’re keeping score, it was on March 25, 2013, that Cooper was brought up from Syracuse to replace then-head coach Guy Boucher.

Just a mere 3,822 days ago.

But now that Cooper is established as the most tenured coach in the NHL with their current team while numerous other high-profile coaches have gone down in flames, it is a reminder that as much as X’s and O’s matter in hockey, leadership matters too.

Tampa Bay Lightning: Character building

This week, Mike Babcock was invited to leave Columbus before he even coaches a game with the club. At the center of the controversy were allegations that he forced players to give their phones to him and he started scrolling through their pictures. Further investigation led to further allegations, and he was fired.

In recent history, coaches like Bill Peters, Jim Montgomery, and Joel Quenneville were all let go from their roles as head coaches for reasons other than on-ice performance.

Now, don’t get it twisted and think that Cooper is still the head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning for the sole reason he’s a decent human being. Two Stanley Cup trophies, along with two more Stanley Cup finals, are why Cooper is still employed.

But keeping in mind that Cooper hadn’t been part of an NHL franchise as either a player or a coach until he got the call-up in 2013, his rise to the top proves that guys don’t have to employ the toxicity of “old school” coaching in order to be successful.

As he enters his 11th full season as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning, part of Cooper’s mastery of the locker room is that the core superstars of the Lightning still listen to what he has to say and trickle that message down to the rest of the room.

If a superstar needs to be benched, Cooper has shown he is willing to bench them and not have it turn into a team-breaking saga.

Cooper has shown he has no patience if someone shows up to camp woefully unprepared, such as Jake Dotchin did in 2018.

And heading into a season where Tampa is hoping for a bounce-back season, those high standards are going to be needed to get Tampa back to the mountaintop.

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