{"id":399405,"date":"2026-01-10T12:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/399405\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T12:45:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T12:45:22","slug":"julien-brisebois-would-love-to-see-tampa-bay-lightning-coach-jon-cooper-win-his-first-jack-adams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/399405\/","title":{"rendered":"Julien BriseBois would love to see Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper win his first Jack Adams"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite being considered among the NHL\u2019s best, Jon Cooper has never won the Jack Adams<\/a> Award in his 12 full seasons as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cooper has the Lightning in position to reach the playoffs this season for the 12th time in the 13 years after taking over at the tail end of the 2012-13 season.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Olympic head coach has finished second and third in Jack Adams<\/a> voting in the past, but has never been recognized as the league\u2019s coach of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be nice for him to get that acknowledgment at some point,\u201d Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun in The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cBut the reality is, whether he wins the Jack Adams<\/a> or not, he\u2019s a heck of a coach. He\u2019s the best coach for us, and he\u2019s going to go down as probably the greatest coach of his generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd people don\u2019t know how many Jack Adams<\/a> Scotty Bowman has, but they know he\u2019s got nine Stanley Cups. At the end of the day, you\u2019re judged more on championships. Your legacy is built on those championships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bowman won the Jack Adams<\/a> twice during his storied 30-year career, in 1977 with the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> and again in 1996 with the Detroit Red Wings<\/a>. He remains the NHL record holder in points percentage (min. 205 games) at .657. Cooper is fourth on that list at .639 and behind only Rod Brind\u2019Amour (.654) among active head coaches.<\/p>\n

Cooper, who has a career record of 598-319-86, coached his 1,000th career game on New Year\u2019s Eve as the Lightning picked up an overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Lightning are on an 8-game heater despite missing key players and this might be the deepest version of their squad dating back to their Cup years. New for \u2066@TheAthletic<\/a>\u2069, my chat with GM Julien BriseBois \u2935\ufe0f https:\/\/t.co\/AJ95xZ1yV3<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) January 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Tampa Bay has a 26-13-3 record this season, fighting for first in the Atlantic Division, currently sitting one point back of the Montreal Canadiens<\/a> with two games in hand.<\/p>\n

The Lightning have been unable to advance past the first-round of the playoffs in three straight seasons after reaching the Stanley Cup Final in each of the prior three, winning it all twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a number of teams that can legitimately aspire to win the Stanley Cup this season, and we feel like we\u2019re one of them,\u201d BriseBois said. \u201cYeah, we lost in the first round last year. We lost to the team that won the Cup. It\u2019s a really, really good team.\u201d<\/p>\n

With that in mind, BriseBois told LeBrun he is ready to swing again if the opportunity presents itself at the trade deadline this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at our team this year, getting Oliver Bjorkstrand<\/a> and Yanni Gourde<\/a> at the trade deadline last year has made us a significantly better team,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019ve improved our five-on-five play. They both play on special teams. They compete hard.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the extent there will be options for us to do that (again), we\u2019re always going to be interested in doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lightning are without a first-round pick in each of the next two drafts, which could hinder their ability to make a significant move ahead of March 6.<\/p>\n