Tampa Bay Lightning
Analysts Suggest Jon Cooper Would Chase “One Last Great Mission” with Maple Leafs
Would Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper leave Tampa to accept a challenge with the Toronto Maple Leafs?
Would Jon Cooper ever leave the Tampa Bay Lightning to join the Toronto Maple Leafs? It certainly doesn’t matter right now, given that Cooper is committed to the Lightning and Jim Hiller was just signed in Toronto as their new coach. That said, The Sheet’s Jeff Marek argues that Cooper is “of the mind” that accepting the challenge to bring Toronto a Stanley Cup is something he could consider.
“I do think that Jon Cooper is of the mind that that’s a real challenge that he would embrace,” said Marek after admitting that it might not be fair to Hiller to talk about his role in Toronto so flippantly.
Marek and Greg Wyshynski discussed whether two-time Stanley Cup champion coach would ever leave Tampa Bay and the great weather for the one job that seems to chew coaches up and spit them out. Wyshynski argued that Mike Babcock tried it. He believes that Cooper would try it too. “In the pantheon of professional sports, Marek, that is one of the last great missions to accomplish.”
Nobody Else Has Been Able To Coach the Maple Leafs to A Cup Since 1967
Would Cooper leave the Lightning for a chance to do what no other coach has been able to do since 1967? Some great names have tried. All have failed. Cooper is widely regarded as the best coach in hockey, but he’s had incredible players and great teams to coach in a market that isn’t as hockey-mad as Toronto is.
What makes Cooper so good? Is it his Xs and Os? Is it his style and approach to working with elite talent? Or has he been on the positive side of being in the right place at the right time? Can Cooper take this same core (less one big star in Mitch Marner) and turn them into champions?
Next: Morgan Rielly’s Message to the Maple Leafs Is Pretty Clear
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