Lightning's Jon Cooper named NHL's top coach for 1st time

Of all the accomplishments Jon Cooper has had with the Lightning, he's always said that the lasting legacy he wants to leave in Tampa Bay is through his community work.

Having your name on the Stanley Cup is nice, establishing yourself as one of the top coaches in the game is great, but being attached to things that truly help others in need is more impactful.

The head coach has raised $1.5 million toward pediatric cancer research and support through his annual fishing tournament.

On Wednesday afternoon, Cooper arrived at Tampa General Hospital for a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Coop's Catch for Kids Family Lounge, a space at Muma Children's Hospital that will benefit pediatric cancer patients, their families and friends.

Little did he know that several of the kids he's befriended through his charitable work would help celebrate the one individual coaching honor that's long eluded him.

The ceremony ended up being a surprise event for Cooper, who received the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the league's top coach as selected by members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association.

Coop's Catch grew from an event through which Cooper hoped to raise $60,000 the first time it was held nine years ago. Four years ago, he created the J5 Foundation nonprofit, and the organization's first major project was the family lounge. So, to be able to combine Wednesday's event with the surprise award was a full-circle moment.

"To be honest, it's almost fitting that it happened this year, just because of the culmination of what Coop's Catch started as and what it has become," Cooper said. "And now to win this award and have them both intersect at a time so where, in a way, it was me giving back and then somebody giving to me, it's kind of cool and prophetic the way the whole thing worked out.

"In the end, my name will be on this trophy. I feel extremely fortunate that my name is on the Stanley Cup. But more importantly, to build this in the community, have your name on something that is affecting people that are going through tough times, that means everything to me."

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Cooper called up some of the young people impacted by cancer that he's befriended. To his surprise, they returned later, rolling out the Jack Adams Trophy.

"You got me," Cooper said, smiling. "You thought it would never happen, and it has."

Cooper - who was selected for this year's award ahead of Buffalo's Lindy Ruff and Pittsburgh's Dan Muse - was a finalist for the award two previous times: He finished third in his first full NHL season in 2013-14 and was the runnerup in Tampa Bay's Presidents' Trophy-winning season in 2018-19.

Cooper won by just three total points over Ruff, 226-223. Cooper received 10 more first-place votes than the Sabres coach, 36-26, but Ruff's name appeared on more ballots (67-58). Voters selected their top three choices on a 5-3-1 point allocation.

The Jack Adams, a regular-season honor, typically goes to a coach who has exceeded expectations - which was the case with both Ruff and Muse this season - so Cooper's candidacy has often gone overlooked as the Lightning have established themselves as an annual Stanley Cup contender over the past dozen seasons.

While this season didn't end with a Stanley Cup - the Lightning lost to the Canadiens in seven games in the first round - it might have been his best coaching job because of how ravaged the Lightning were by injuries.

The Lightning had 339 man games lost due to injury, not including the 14 games captain Victor Hedman missed while taking a personal leave of absence to address his mental health. The Lightning rebounded from their worst start under Cooper, losing six of their first seven games (1-4-2), to going 20-1-1 over a stretch from Dec. 20-Feb. 25, jumping to the top of the Eastern Conference standings in the process.

"This one was just different; we didn't win 62 games this year (like in 2018-19)," Cooper said. " We won 50, but the man games lost, and all the things that went into it, and our start, it's almost a more rewarding year."

Weston Hermann, a 19-year-old who has battled brain cancer since he was 7, has known Cooper since he was 11. When he was invited to attend Wednesday's ribbon-cutting ceremony, he thought it was just that. But he ended up being one of the four people to roll out the trophy.

"It was just as much a surprise to us," said Hermann, who played hockey throughout his treatment and still does. "It shouldn't be a surprise, just based on what he's done, who he is as a coach and a person. ... I knew nothing about it. I'm thinking I'm just lucky enough to be a part of this family lounge, so having the opportunity to provide him with such an award, it was crazy. It was really unforgettable."

Cooper also shared the moment with his family. His wife, Jessie, knew about the surprise, as did twin daughters Josie and Julia, and son Jonny.

Jessie Cooper said the support her husband has been given from the Lightning organization - Cooper is the league's longest-tenured head coach - throughout the years has allowed him and the family to plant roots in Tampa and be active in the community.

"When you live in the community where you work, it's different, and sometimes in professional sports we don't get the honor of that because it is a league that has a lot of turnover," Jessie said. "To be somewhere where you actually raise your children, become a part of the community and get to do all the cool stuff, that's a blessing.

"When you're in a high-stress environment where winning and losing seems to be everything, this actually helps you realize what does matter, which is family and kids and your life, and sometimes that's hard to put in perspective when everything's on the line and it's winning and losing. But today, this is the ultimate win."

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This story was originally published June 3, 2026 at 2:45 PM.