Jon Cooper

[Hockeyholic]

I believe this guy is a top five coach. He adjusted this series and he is a player's coach by all accounts.

How do others view him?

Click to read more...

 

[Hoek]

I'm definitely curious about this because like most fanbases there's a contingent that wants to fire him for every loss, so I want to know what others think. I personally think he's great. He definitely had some annoying flaws not too long ago but seems to have grown.

 

[These Are The Days]

I've been a staunch Cooper supporter for a long time now. The leash got short with him last year because we were just barely over .500 when healthy and the rest of the season we were icing an AHL lineup. As we all know we missed the playoffs by a point. Then we lost the opening 2 games at Amalie to start the ECF and a "fire Cooper" thread got made. And we got the big LOL's when his job was called for after the 2nd game of the season.

All BS aside I'm thrilled with how he has done since last year. The stubborn old goat has finally learned. The disgruntled Drouin became a feature component of our offense last year and was replaced by Sergachev -whom Cooper has handled very well. Trash like Sustr is in the pressbox where he belongs, Coburn (who is falling off in play) has been 3rd pairing and done well. Cooper is less prone to throwing out the Dungeons and Dragons dice when making lineups but I think it has more to do with the fact that we're playing better and they haven't had to be changed much due to having better players than last year.

I might have argued against him being a top 5 coach at the beginning of the year but I think we can say he is. He has a great team and wins with it night after night. I can't ask for more. If he wins a Cup he'll displace Tortorella as our best coach in team history if by just his success alone.

 

[These Are The Days]

I'm definitely curious about this because like most fanbases there's a contingent that wants to fire him for every loss, so I want to know what others think. I personally think he's great. He definitely had some annoying flaws not too long ago but seems to have grown.

"The Lightning will start the 3 on 3 with Brown, Fippula and Stralman"

#illshootyoufirstthenyoushootmek?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I like him a lot. He seems smart and knows how to coach. I'd take him on my team any day

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Calling @T REX

 

[Steazy Doo]

"The Lightning will start the 3 on 3 with Brown, Fippula and Stralman"

#illshootyoufirstthenyoushootmek?

It was Killorn with Filppula you even watch bro

 

[Master P]

Oh this should be good

 

[Hoek]

"The Lightning will start the 3 on 3 with Brown, Fippula and Stralman"

#illshootyoufirstthenyoushootmek?

I always thought that was a bit overblown. The idea was to win the faceoff and get possession, then score after a line change, and it DID actually work a couple times, but people acted like it never worked and was the stupidest thing ever. It did go stale and he was too stubborn about it, though.

 

[BoltsFanPinellasPark]

I thought he should have made the adjustments in game 2 vs the Caps. He's got a good sense for what these bolts are capable of this season and in the playoffs.

He's done a great job at putting the players in a position to win. Most of all I like his calm professional demeanor. He's the type of character that earns respect for good thinking and staying on an even emotional keel.

 

[These Are The Days]

It was Killorn with Filppula you even watch bro

An OT began with Brown frequently and often as well. Or was the trauma so difficult you blocked it out? There's no shame in that.

 

[These Are The Days]

I always thought that was a bit overblown. The idea was to win the faceoff and get possession, then score after a line change, and it DID actually work a couple times, but people acted like it never worked and was the stupidest thing ever. It did go stale and he was too stubborn about it, though.

It was almost as bad as using Stamkos in shootouts

 

[The Macho King]

Pulling the goalie for extra skater

*squints*

Brendan Morrow?

 

[CupsOverCash]

I like him. You dont go to 3 of 4 ECF and not have something to do with it.

 

[The Macho King]

Joking aside - I've been among the most critical of the Tampa fans on Cooper. He was frustrating to no end in a lot of ways.

But he came in as a rookie coach. He leaned heavily on a) players he coached in Norfolk/Syracuse, and b) veterans. He did this at times to his detriment (see above Morrow as the sixth skater incident). We regularly felt like we underachieved in the regular season (last season being the most notable example).

This season he has clearly developed as a coach. His roster decisions have been fantastic. He has the players buying into the system. My criticisms of him are fairly minor compared to most years. Win or lose, I think he's getting the most out of this roster.

Rick Bowness on the other hand... he handles our PK and the passivity of it when compared to how aggressive we generally are... I'd be okay letting him go.

 

[Rebels57]

One of the best. Top 5 for sure. Maybe top 3.

 

[DownIsTheNewUp]

Tampa fan here, I've never been completely sold on him. I don't think he's a bad coach, but top 5? Hmm, lets see how the next few days and weeks play out.

I really felt like we needed an adjustment after game 1 as we got outmatched in every facet. Nothing changed for game 2 and we had the same result. Game 3 he did switch Palat to the first line in place of Miller (not a huge change, both guys are pretty similar for being the physical guy on the boards and in front of the net). Other than that, I'm not sure if there was any huge strategic change other than playing better, but admittedly, maybe there were some underlying changes that didn't necessarily meet the eye.

I do think he's a great guy. He's certainly a great manager of people and personalities. Maybe his biggest plus is that Yzerman thinks he's the right man for the job. That's good enough for me.

 

[The Macho King]

Tampa fan here, I've never been completely sold on him. I don't think he's a bad coach, but top 5? Hmm, lets see how the next few days and weeks play out.

I really felt like we needed an adjustment after game 1 as we got outmatched in every facet. Nothing changed for game 2 and we had the same result. Game 3 he did switch Palat to the first line in place of Miller (not a huge change, both guys are pretty similar for being the physical guy on the boards and in front of the net). Other than that, I'm not sure if there was any huge strategic change other than playing better, but admittedly, maybe there were some underlying changes that didn't necessarily meet the eye.

I do think he's a great guy. He's certainly a great manager of people and personalities. Maybe his biggest plus is that Yzerman thinks he's the right man for the job. That's good enough for me.

I don't mind the Game 2 move. He wanted to give the players a chance to respond. They didn't. In the Boston series it seemed brilliant - not so much in the Caps series.

That's fine. I think he noticed something about the match up with Ovi's line. They're *really heavy*, and Point - as good as he is - was having trouble handling the size disparity with Ovi and Wilson probably outweighing their entire line combined. So he went to our heaviest line to counter them instead, and question it all you want, but Ovi's line was pretty damn ineffective in Game 5, and while they threw a lot of rubber at the net in Game 4 most of it wasn't dangerous.

 

[These Are The Days]

Pulling the goalie for extra skater

*squints*

Brendan Morrow?

Winner winner

 

[Kamiccolo]

Another case of an average coach being over rated due to a strong team. Most people had Tampa as a cup favorite going in. Stacked defense, stacked forwards, and a goalie who got Vezina talks earlier in the year. I would say almost any coach in the league could win a few rounds in the playoffs.

Now, all this top 5 talk, I would say put anyone in the top 10 in there and they can be in the same spot. People REALLY over rate how much coaching factors into things. Just play your stars and they'll win.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Now, all this top 5 talk, I would say put anyone in the top 10 in there and they can be in the same spot. People REALLY over rate how much coaching factors into things. Just play your stars and they'll win.

Yea you obviously never watched Dan Bylsma coach
And Gerard Gallant doesn't have many "stars", how do you explain his success?

You severely underrate the impact of coaching at ANY level

As for the question, yea he's in my Top 5 (in no particular order)

-Babs
-Lavs
-Sullivan
-Gallant
-Cooper

 

[Kamiccolo]

Yea you obviously never watched Dan Bylsma coach
And Gerard Gallant doesn't have many "stars", how do you explain his success?

You severely underrate the impact of coaching at ANY level

As for the question, yea he's in my Top 5 (in no particular order)

-Babs
-Lavs
-Sullivan
-Gallant
-Cooper

Fleury playing out of his mind is the difference. You act as if Gallant can take any team to the finals when that is not the case. He is just another coach who knows to play his stars and knows how to motivate them.

 

[Sky04]

Joking aside - I've been among the most critical of the Tampa fans on Cooper. He was frustrating to no end in a lot of ways.

But he came in as a rookie coach. He leaned heavily on a) players he coached in Norfolk/Syracuse, and b) veterans. He did this at times to his detriment (see above Morrow as the sixth skater incident). We regularly felt like we underachieved in the regular season (last season being the most notable example).

This season he has clearly developed as a coach. His roster decisions have been fantastic. He has the players buying into the system. My criticisms of him are fairly minor compared to most years. Win or lose, I think he's getting the most out of this roster.

Rick Bowness on the other hand... he handles our PK and the passivity of it when compared to how aggressive we generally are... I'd be okay letting him go.

I agree about the roster decicions and player usage but it still doesn't seem like a roster this stacked playing to full potential. 5 on 5 just leaves something to be desired.

 

[Sky04]

Fleury playing out of his mind is the difference. You act as if Gallant can take any team to the finals when that is not the case. He is just another coach who knows to play his stars and knows how to motivate them.

Both are better than Babcock so doesn't really matter.

 

[Sky04]

Another case of an average coach being over rated due to a strong team. Most people had Tampa as a cup favorite going in. Stacked defense, stacked forwards, and a goalie who got Vezina talks earlier in the year. I would say almost any coach in the league could win a few rounds in the playoffs.

Now, all this top 5 talk, I would say put anyone in the top 10 in there and they can be in the same spot. People REALLY over rate how much coaching factors into things. Just play your stars and they'll win.

Oh so what happened to the Pengiuns under Mike Johnston?

You're clueless.