Team Canada boss ‘by no means thought’ he would win – Sports News
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper has admitted he by no means thought he would ever obtain the NHL’s high teaching honor after being named the winner of the 2026 Jack Adams Award.
Recently, Cooper, the NHL’s longest-tenured coach, was named the recipient of the Jack Adams Award, an honor given to the pinnacle coach who’s “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”
The Team Canada boss guided the Lightning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the ninth consecutive season this 12 months with a 50-26-6 file that noticed Tampa Bay end second within the Atlantic Division.
Their common season file additionally marked the fifth time the Lightning has received 50 video games below Cooper, their first since 2021-22.
Named after legendary former Detroit Red Wings star Jack Adams, the winner of the award is set by a ballot of the NHL Broadcasters Association, with Cooper admitting he by no means believed he would ever win it when he was shocked at Muma Children’s Hospital in Tampa on Wednesday.
“OK, you got me,” stated Cooper. “I never thought this day would come.”
However, whereas the Jack Adams Award is an particular person honor, the Lightning head coach made sure to let everybody know he views it as a staff award.
Praising his gamers, Cooper stated: “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 had been occasions with doubt, particularly when a lot of the gamers went down the best way they did.”
He added: “You look back and also you would’ve liked to unfold all that stuff out over years as an alternative of what occurred within the final eight months.
“My mom and dad are no longer with us anymore, so they didn’t get the opportunity to see this event, but they’re definitely with me right now.”
“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.”
Stay forward of the sport with the most recent developments within the sports activities world! Our web site is your final vacation spot for sports activities information, delivering complete updates, in-depth analyses, and professional insights into the fast-evolving realm of athletics. We carry you every day protection on all the things from breakthrough coaching techniques and rising staff methods to main bulletins which can be setting the tempo within the sports activities industry.
Discover how these trends are redefining the aggressive panorama! Visit us commonly for partaking and informative content material by clicking right here. Our meticulously curated articles cowl game-changing ways, investment alternatives in sports activities, and key milestones in at present’s dynamic athletic area.
