NORFOLK, Va – NHL teams have been increasingly turning to younger head coaches at both the parent club level and for their farm clubs. The Tampa Bay Lightning jumped on the trend on August 12th when they reached down into the United States Hockey League to hire the Green Bay Gamblers’ general manager and head coach Jon Cooper. He was named as head coach of the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League the top affiliate of the Lightning.
He is the first coach to move directly from the USHL to become a head coach in the American Hockey League. The USHL a mid-western based junior league headquartered in Chicago. It is the only Tier I junior hockey league in the United States. Prior to coaching the past two seasons in Green Bay Cooper led the St. Louis Bandits of the North American Hockey League another junior league for five seasons where he won two league championships.
The Gamblers compiled a phenomenal record over the past two seasons under Cooper. His teams won two straight regular season championships and this past season won the Clark Cup Championship Trophy. In two seasons in Green Bay Cooper and the Gamblers built a record including playoffs of 97-27-9. His first year in Green Bay saw the team improve 50 points in the standings over the previous season. This is the biggest turn-around ever for a USHL franchise. Cooper won the USHL awards for both Coach of the Year and General Manager of the Year honors for 2010-11. The GM award was his second straight award in the category.
A dual citizen of the United States and Canada, Cooper played hockey at Notre Dame in Wilcox, Saskatchewan and at Hofstra University in New York. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Hofstra and a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Michigan. He practiced law before moving into coaching on a full-time basis.
In their press release the Admirals pointed out that Cooper has a record of winning championships. Norfolk Admirals general manager Julien BriseBois pointed out that “He has excelled at a championship level in each location he has coached and we are happy he elected to continue his career in the Lightning organization.”
Contact the author at Phil.Brand@prohockeynews.com
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