Tampa Bay Lightning: Criticism of Jon Cooper

By Diana Driscoll |

This morning, I was searching news about the Stanley Cup Final, like every fan does, at work (shh don’t tell my boss) and I came across this video article on TSN: Is criticism of Cooper fair?

Unfortunately, I am not in Canada so I cannot actually view the video (really?), but I was intrigued by the question. The premise of the video is: is the criticism Jon Cooper received for keeping Steven Stamkos glued to the bench in the closing minutes of Game 5 fair? I don’t know what the experts at TSN said (again I couldn’t watch the video), but I wanted to voice my opinion.

Are people angry with his decision? Sure. Do they have the right to be? You betcha! Was it the right call to keep Stamkos on the bench? I believe so.

Look, nothing against Stamkos; he is one of the best scorers in the game. And in most situations, you want your best player or top scorer on the ice, right? Well, if you believe that than Cooper did the right thing because Stamkos has not been the best player for the Lightning.

Stamkos has yet to find the back of the net in the Final. He has a spectacular series against the New York Rangers, but has only tallied one point in the series against the Chicago Blackhawks. Clearly, he has the potential and skills to improve those stats, but it just hasn’t happened.

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Down one goal with time dwindling, what is a coach to do? Go with the hot hands. You want to put the players on the ice who have been finding the puck, handling it and creating chances. You want the players who have figured out Corey Crawford and who have been playing with a jump in their step.

For the Lightning that would mean having the Ryan Callahan, Cedric Paquette, J.T. Brown line out on the ice. You might think that’s crazy, but that line has been ridiculous at generating chances, forcing turnovers and generally being a big pain for the Blackhawks. It is a hardworking line that is always making something happen. The desire and work ethic of those three players is never lacking and it shows each time they are on the ice.

They deserve to be out there when the game is on the line. Of course they aren’t the only three. I would also give ample time to Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn (where did he go to school again Doc Emrick?). They are dangerous and productive—what a combination!

I would say the Triplets line, but Nikita Kucherov was in the locker room due to injury, and Tyler Johnson just hasn’t seemed himself the past two games—apparently he is fighting through an injury.

So, those are the five forwards I would go with late in the game because of how they have been playing. I would say these were the best players for Tampa’s offense in the past few games. Add Victor Hedman to the mix, and you’re giving your team the best chance it has to tying the game. Sorry Steven.

Yes, Cooper is going to receive criticism for his decision to keep Stamkos on the bench. But he went with his gut and with the players he felt were playing better than Stamkos. I think he made the right call and I respect him for keeping his head clear. He didn’t let Stamkos’ reputation and success in the regular season cloud his game-time decision.

I’ll say most of us fans, who obviously know what is best for the team we love, would have had Stamkos on the ice the entire last two minutes of the game if we could. He is the player for the Lightning and he came this close (for all of you that cannot see me, my thumb and index fingers are millimeters apart) to scoring the game-tying goal in Game 4. But he didn’t. And in Game 5, he just wasn’t the best player on the ice for Tampa; sometimes he wasn’t even noticeable.

So, Coop, while you may have and continue to receive criticism and maybe even death threats for your decision with Stamkos, I commend you for your coaching decisions and tip my hat to you (need a new assistant coach?).

Hopefully, the slight diss to Stamkos will light a fire under him and he’ll play like the elite player we all know he is in this high-pressure, do-or-die Game 6.

Next: Blackhawks: A Modern Day Dynasty

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