Jon Cooper Reacts to Winning the Jack Adams Award

Getty

Jon Cooper

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper reacted to winning the Jack Adams Award for the first time in his NHL coaching career.

In what was the closest Jack Adams Award race in NHL history, Cooper was given 226 total points, with Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres losing by just three points at 223. Dan Muse of the Pittsburgh Penguins was a close third at 199 points.

Jon Cooper Shares Reaction to Winning the Jack Adams Award

Speaking to NHL.com after winning the first Jack Adams Award of his storied hockey career, Cooper shared his reaction to taking home the honor.

While the Jack Adams Award is technically an individual honor, for Cooper, the honor is all about the team he had on the ice in Tampa Bay.

“It was a magical group and to think that we had one win in our first seven games, but nobody questioned what was happening, nobody questioned our belief in what we were doing. And then we slowly took off. There were times with doubt, especially when a lot of the players went down the way they did,” Cooper said.

“There’s no secret sauce. We’ve got a group and we’ve got a plan and we ultimately believe in bringing in good people. Are we perfect, any of us? No, but we have a foundation, a belief and a standard in how things have to be run.”

The Lightning finished in second place in the Atlantic Division with 106 points, just three behind the division-leading Sabres. The fact that Cooper had never won the Jack Adams Award in his career yet likely played somewhat into the voters’ selecting him for the honor. But ultimately, he took it home, as Ruff and Muse just missed out on winning it.

Jack Adams Award Voting

Check out the full Jack Adams Award voting table below.