Is Cooper the best coach in the League?

[BoltsOfAnarchy]

He is a good coach but freakin Ralph Krueger can probably win with this lineup.

The real artwork of TB happened over the last several years on the second floor in the management offices

where the ticket sales & service reps are?? bc that's the 2nd floor.

oh right, you don't know what you're talking about do you?

 

[Damifino]

...... He is one of the most fortunate to have inherited....

Would your position change if you knew he didn't inherit this team but instead was the coach in its pre-NHL development? Coop had this core when he coached in Syracuse. Second, third, fifth rounders, undrafted walk-ons. Developed a team from them, this same team, and won a Calder. Now two cups.

 

[Hansem1979]

where the ticket sales & service reps are?? bc that's the 2nd floor.

oh right, you don't know what you're talking about do you?

Second floor is where the management is at the Bell.

get off your high horse I was complimentai your GM. You seem really insecure

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

People crying about the cap are hilarious. Did Tampa "cheat" in their 2015 and 2020 SCF runs too?

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

As for Cooper. If any other coach won back to back cups and made 3 SCF/5 ECF in 7 years, they'd be talked about as 1 of the best coaches ever. Very disrespectful to say he's not the best coach just because Tampa has great players. Was Bowman not the best coach even though his rosters were always stacked with HOFers? Arbour? Q? Guess they were never the best either, it was always the players.

 

[Osakahaus]

Barry trotz is better. Ratboy himself is only good w/the talent he's got. Hes so much like the Dave Roberts of the NHL where he makes some really boneheaded moves and only benefits because his squad has the skill to win him games. I do not want to hear an argument that he's a skilled coach when he's a passenger most times.

 

[Osakahaus]

Trotz has been the bridesmaid numerous times; Cooper has two Cups. Also Cooper lets his guys open up quite a bit. Until Trotz lets guys like Barzal play like Point/Kucherov the Isles will always be a goal or two behind. They are close though. A healthy Anders Lee might get them to the Cup final next season.

Barzal is a guy who isn't like those two. Point is a sneaky man who gets greasy akin to Lee, and the isles do not have a Kucherov. I guess someone could go back in a time machine and bring me back Yashin because those two are the exact same player.

 

[Osakahaus]

As for Cooper. If any other coach won back to back cups and made 3 SCF/5 ECF in 7 years, they'd be talked about as 1 of the best coaches ever. Very disrespectful to say he's not the best coach just because Tampa has great players. Was Bowman not the best coach even though his rosters were always stacked with HOFers? Arbour? Q? Guess they were never the best either, it was always the players.

The difference between those guys is that they're players coaches. I do not get that from Cooper. Ratboy is a Dave Roberts tier guy who got talent to him. Sorry.

 

[CarolinaBlueJacket]

Funny how 2 years ago, half of the people were ready to fire him because he was "outcoached" by Tortorella. The truth is Tampa has the best roster in the league, so they should win the Cup, not because of his coaching.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I'd take Trotz over Cooper right now.

Today is a weird time to say, "right now."

 

[Foppberg]

Nope. Trotz, Brind'A'mour, Quenneville would be my top 3.

And then some collection of Bednar/Cooper/Cassidy/Keefe/Gallant

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

The difference between those guys is that they're players coaches. I do not get that from Cooper. Ratboy is a Dave Roberts tier guy who got talent to him. Sorry.

Do you know them personally or what they're like in the room? Pretty sure a guy can't be coaching the same team for almost a decade without being a "players coach".

 

[zeykshade]

Let's see how they do next year when they have to be cap compliant.

So…like in 2020?

 

[User9992]

It's Trotz I think. Give Trotz the same quality roster & he beats current Lightning comfortably.

 

[itsJG]

People are really discrediting Cooper, he has made the team into a monster that can play any style

 

[Devil Dancer]

Today is a weird time to say, "right now."

Sure, let me explain. I value coaches who have proven they can be successful on different teams with all the different variables that go with it.

Cooper hasn't had that opportunity yet at the NHL level. If he goes to another team someday and is successful, the way Trotz has been, maybe I could see him as equal to or even better than Trotz.

 

[Pyrophorus]

I assume either him or Trotz will be Canada's head coach in 2022 Olympics.

Honestly I think Trotz is the best. He does more with less.

but also done less, than Cooper.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

To be honest, i think there is no best coach in the league. Or at least, it's impossible to measure.

They're not magicians. There's different things you can do, but if both guys do them well, at the end of the day the difference comes from the guys on the ice.

Ultimately, if you want to name the best coach it would probably come down to how they work behind the scenes, with individual players. But we never get to see that or know for sure how much of an impact it had on a players performance.

 

[Hockeyholic]

but also done less, than Cooper.

2>1 Cups for Cooper with much better teams.

 

[ThunderRoad]

I assume either him or Trotz will be Canada's head coach in 2022 Olympics.

Honestly I think Trotz is the best. He does more with less.

Well since Cooper holds dual citizenship, he can coach team USA and Trotz team Canada. Then Trotz will be able to show he can do more, with more, or Cooper can show he can do more with less.

IMO, by saying anyone could coach the Lightning, it does Cooper, and his staff, a disservice. A characteristic of a well coached team is the cohesiveness shown on the ice. You don't see egos from the more superstar players, which is why certain personalities didn't work out on the team. But Cooper gets them to play as a unit, not to say, he hasn't learned a lot himself over the last decade+ with the Tampa organization, and that just shows his ability to adapt.

 

[Hockeyholic]

Well since Cooper holds dual citizenship, he can coach team USA and Trotz team Canada. Then Trotz will be able to show he can do more, with more, or Cooper can show he can do more with less.

IMO, by saying anyone could coach the Lightning, it does Cooper, and his staff, a disservice. A characteristic of a well coached team is the cohesiveness shown on the ice. You don't see egos from the more superstar players, which is why certain personalities didn't work out on the team. But Cooper gets them to play as a unit, not to say, he hasn't learned a lot himself over the last decade+ with the Tampa organization, and that just shows his ability to adapt.

I didn't say anyone could coach the Lightning. He's obviously a great coach.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

I think a 10 year old could coach that team, maybe he is the best but when you have a rooster like Tampa (best G, best W, best D, top 10 C, crazy debt), it is hard to tell is the coach makes a huge difference

You can think so. And I can think you're absolutely wrong.
If you honestly think Jon Cooper doesn't have any impact on his team's success then I believe that you don't understand the dynamics of good leadership in upper management and how much it impacts the organizational structure below them.

Tampa is a team full of talented individuals. Jon Cooper the coach has those individuals buying into his system and playing as a team. When he needs them to play disciplined defense he has them playing disciplined defense. When he wants to push the pace offensively he lets his big guns play. Very few coaches in the history of the NHL are capable of giving up control to their players and then getting it back shift by shift, game by game. It's one of Trotz's weaknesses for as much as people love the guy.

A good coach can take a team and make them 10% better.
A bad coach can take that same team and make them 30% worse. The same goes for management in any organization, sports or otherwise.

Jon Cooper makes his team better. Full stop.

 

[JackSlater]

Probably not. It's difficult to judge coaches though given how drastically different the teams they work with can be. I'd want Trotz as a coach of some random team if my life depended on it.

 

[RyCanadian]

Cooper seems to be a good coach but let's see how he would do by coaching the worst team in the league

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Cooper seems to be a good coach but let's see how he would do by coaching the worst team in the league

The Wings would gladly trade Blashill for Cooper. Straight up.