This season Bolt Prospects introduced our Prospect of the Week award, an honor (virtually) given to one Tampa Bay Lightning prospect for their on-ice contributions.
We wanted to highlight prospects throughout the year to help fans get better acquainted with the next round of Lightning stars while recognizing the prospect’s achievement on the ice.
This week’s BP Prospect of the Week award, the last of the season, goes to … Jon Cooper, Coach, Norfolk Admirals (AHL).
While not a Lightning prospect in the true definition of a Lightning prospect, Admirals Head Coach Jon Cooper is certainly an NHL prospect. His name was mentioned when the Montreal Canadiens were searching for a new bench boss and with Edmonton and Washington needing coaches, it's being mentioned again – especially after Cooper’s Admirals won the Calder Cup on Saturday afternoon. The bottom line is he’ll be in the NHL soon.
The job the reigning AHL Coach of the Year did this season was legendary. It would be hard to argue that Cooper is not as hot a young coaching prospect now than Guy Boucher was when the Lightning signed the former Hamilton Bulldog leader. The biggest difference could be that Boucher’s resume was built in hockey media-rich Canada so it was more publicized.
In fact, Cooper’s resume is more impressive.
As the Buffalo News highlighted this week, in the last nine years Cooper has four league championships in three leagues: AHL, United States Hockey League, North American Hockey League (2). He was also named Coach of the Year in all three leagues (twice in the NAHL). His record is 401-164-31, including three regular season titles. This year all he did was win 70 of 94 games (43-3 in his last 46), and break a North American pro hockey record with a 28-game regular season win streak (which is still going, incidentally).
I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Cooper at training camp in September and he couldn’t have been nicer. The quote that still sticks with me the most from my conversation with him is “winning is the best development.†Well, if an AHL coach’s job is to develop players, and he believes winning is the best development, can this year be considered more successful than it already is?
Cooper also told me, in a question related to Richard Panik [5], that it’s the coach’s job to find what makes individual players play their best. Everyone is different. Did anyone on the Admirals this season underperform? In short, and taking injuries out of the equation, the answer is “no.â€
You really can’t ask for anything more from a prospect coach.
Previous BP Prospects of the Week:
Dustin Tokarski [6], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - June 5, 2012 [7]
Sebastien Piche [8], Charles Landry [9], Pat Nagle [10], Florida Everblades (ECHL) - June 1, 2012 [11]
Dustin Tokarski, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - May 23, 2012 [12]
Jaroslav Janus [13], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - May 16, 2012 [14]
Danick Gauthier, Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) - May 10, 2012 [15]
Alex Killorn [16], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - May 2, 2012 [17]
Riku Helenius [18], JYP (Finland) - April 25, 2012 [19]
Cory Conacher [20], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - April 16, 2012 [21]
Mark Barberio [22], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - April 11, 2012 [23]
Tyler Johnson [24], Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - April 4, 2012 [25]
Norfolk Admirals Hockey Club (AHL) - March 27, 2012 [26]
Richard Panik, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - March 21, 2012 [27]
Tyler Johnson, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - March 13, 2012 [28]
Danick Gauthier, Saint John (QMJHL) - March 6, 2012 [29]
Matt Peca, Quinnipiac (NCAA) - February 29, 2012 [30]
Pat Nagle, Florida (ECHL) - February 21, 2012 [31]
Alex Hutchings [32], Florida (ECHL) - February 14, 2012 [33]
Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - February 6, 2012 [34]
Adam Wilcox [35], Tri-City (USHL) and Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - January 30, 2012 [36]
Nikita Kucherov [37], CSKA Jr. (Russia) - January 24, 2012 [38]
Riku Helenius, JYP (Finland) - January 16, 2012 [39]
Brett Connolly [40], Canada (U20 WJC) - January 10, 2012 [41]
*Due to the Christmas break when few games below the NHL level were played, no POTW award was given.
Mark Barberio, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - December 19, 2011 [42]
Vladislav Namestnikov [43], London Knights (OHL) - December 12, 2011 [44]
Tyler Johnson, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - December 5, 2011 [45]
Alex Killorn, Harvard (NCAA) - November 28, 2011 [46]
Nikita Kucherov, Team Russia/CSKA Jr. (MHL) - November 21, 2011 [47]
Vladislav Namestnikov, London Knights (OHL) - November 14, 2011 [48]
Dustin Tokarski, Norfolk Admirals (AHL) - November 6, 2011 [49]
Riku Helenius, JYP (Finland) - October 30, 2011 [50]
Matthew Peca [51], Quinnipiac Bobcats - October 23, 2011 [52]
Radko Gudas [53], Norfolk Admirals - October 16, 2011 [52]
Carter Ashton [54], Norfolk Admirals - October 9, 2011 [55]
Brett Connolly, Tampa Bay Lightning - October 2, 2011 [56]
Mattias Ritola [57], Tampa Bay Lightning - September 25, 2011 [58]