How Jon Cooper operates with his players

Few coaches have defined success in the last decade of the NHL like the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Jon Cooper, who is set to lead Team Canada into the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics in February. 

With two Stanley Cups with the Lightning and a 4 Nations Face Off title with Canada, he has carved out a career as the leader of some of the game’s best players, and will look to continue adding to his legacy in Italy. 

On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, former Lightning forward Tyler Johnson joined hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to break down what makes Cooper so special. 

Hutton: Obviously, with the Olympics looming this year and with Jon Cooper being the head coach of Team Canada, what was it like having John Cooper behind the bench in Tampa Bay?

Johnson: He’s such a smart coach. He understands the game; he understands how the players think. The biggest thing with him is that he allows the players to play their game, but also dictates what we do in our systems. He may have suggestions or ideas, but he’s going to run them by the players, see what they think, and see how we feel. 

It’s a ton of video, probably a lot more than any other coach I’ve been a part of, but at the same time, I think it helps out a lot, because we all get to be on the same page. He’s a guy who even if he wants us to play a certain way, if the guys don’t want to do that and we have a different idea, he’s able to listen to it, and we’re able to kind of switch gears and change to what’s best for the players. He does a tremendous job with that.

You can catch the full segment with Johnson and the rest of Friday’s episode here…