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Quick Strikes: The Lightning re-sign head coach Jon Cooper

Plus: Should the newly-extended Cooper win the Jack Adams?

The Headline

-The Tampa Bay Lightning shook up a quiet Tuesday yesterday in typical style with the expected-eventually-but-still-surprising-now announcement that they had re-signed head coach Jon Cooper.

Cooper’s contract with the Lightning was set to expire this summer. With this multi-year extension, it guarantees that Cooper will become the Lightning’s longest tenured coach as he will pass Tortorella sometime next season. According to CapFriendly.com, it is believed that Cooper’s previous contract paid him $2.25 million per season. He most assuredly has received a pay raise in line with the performance he has had behind the Lightning’s bench.

-Funnily enough, Geo had just published a super convincing article earlier yesterday about Cooper and the Jack Adams award.

So as much praise as Barry Trotz is getting for taking the New York Islanders further than were expected of them this year, the Lightning have exceeded expectations by even more. I think you’d also have to argue that with a team full of stars, Jon Cooper has had to work at managing ice time, expectations, and egos in the locker room.

-In closing: Bubble gum.

The Lightning

-Tampa Bay has spent a lot of time coming from behind these past few games. What kind of a mentality does a team need to handle such pressure? Take it away, Anthony Cirelli:

-The Lightning (and potentially Syracuse, too #WeCanHasAGaunce?) got some good news on the injury front yesterday regarding Anton Stralman. Unfortunately, the news wasn’t great regarding forward Ondrej Palat:

-Are you local to the area and a JT Miller fan? Listen up!

-Cup chance? Pretty good!

-Here’s a fun fact: The Lightning’s goal differential is now plus-100.

-Tampa continues to impress on the small screen.

-Amalie Arena is hosting a job fair.

The Crunch

-The Syracuse Crunch had kind of an up-and-down seven days last week, but by the end, the goal of a playoff spot had been achieved.

Despite all of the off-ice drama, the most important thing that happened was that the Crunch clinched a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. With their win against Utica, they became the second team (following Charlotte) to punch their ticket to the postseason. Now they can focus on securing home ice, which with the way their offense has gone this season, will be most important.

-Looks like Syracuse might have caught a break for their game tonight: Darren Archibald, a player that always seems to find the back of the Crunch’s net, has been suspended by the league. He will miss tonight’s game when Syracuse visits Belleville, and will also miss Belleville’s game at Hartford.

-Carter Verhaeghe continues to have an incredible season.

-Lightning prospect and Crunch rookie forward Alex Barré-Boulet spills the beans about his summers and his free time in this interview.

The Others

-Did the New York Rangers make the right call making Mika Zibanejad their number one center? Kevin Power of Blue Shirt Banter took a crack at answering just that in an article published yesterday.

-Our thoughts are with Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno and his family. We hope Hudson will be okay!

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