Rebounding From 4 Nations Face-Off High ‘Tough’ For Team Canada, Lightning Coach Jon Cooper

Jon Cooper had to clear his throat on multiple occasions during his press conference following the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 4-1 win over visiting Seattle on Sunday evening. Who could blame him? The condensed 4 Nations Face-Off packed so much into a 10-day window, including a whirlwind of emotions in two cities and two countries.

Instead of a soft landing and, say, three or four days to digest an international championship that resulted from Canada’s overtime victory against the U.S., it was right back to the grind of the 82-game NHL schedule. Indeed, Connor McDavid’s tournament-winning goal was scored at 11:30 ET last Thursday evening with the ensuing celebration on Boston’s TD Garden going past midnight. The party ended too soon.

Understandably, so much is made of the players having to quickly recover and refocus, including four – Canada’s Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel and Brayden Point and USA’s Jake Guentzel — who participated in the championship game and play for Cooper’s NHL team. How about the coach who began prepping for the tourney about a year ago? After all, he needed to turn the page just as quickly and resume managing another team, another group of players. It is no easy feat to have to come down so quickly after experiencing such a high on such a stage.

“It’s been tough, I am not going to lie,” said Cooper, who on March 25 will mark 12 years behind the Bolts’ bench. “The preparation going into the 4 Nations was more than just showing up at the tournament. It had been a year in the making and months and months of work and preparation.”

The teams squeezed in a couple of practices before the tournament began Feb. 12 with Canada defeating Sweden – Victor Hedman, captaining the three crowns, was the fifth Lightning player in the tournament – in Montreal, and was completed eight days later when McDavid’s goal sent a nation into a frenzy. In between, Canada lost an initial matchup to the U.S. and defeated Finland. That’s four intense games in little more than a week and with nothing less than national pride at stake.

“It was an exhilarating 10 days,” said Cooper, who will coach Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. “I think if I was trying to dream up what the tournament was going to be like, in my wildest dreams I would never have thought it (turned out like it did). It exceeded (my wildest dreams).”

Then it was over. Quickly.

“You win, you’re with your group and you’re having fun,” said Cooper, a two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach who was behind the bench for his 900^th NHL game earlier this season. “The next morning everyone is gone.”

Back Home

The two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off has made for some demanding schedule arrangements throughout the NHL. In fact, the Lightning played four games in six days prior to the recess with the final two matches back-to-back at Detroit and at Montreal. The post-break schedule began with the Kraken, the first of three games in five days for Tampa Bay. At least, each is at home.

Speaking of home, it was a nice feeling when Cooper landed in Tampa with yet another championship on his resume.

“The first time I saw the guys was (Sunday),” he said of reuniting with his Lightning team a mere hours before the 6 p.m. faceoff. “It was like coming home, and so it was really cool to see all of the boys and I am glad they gave me a good effort. I didn’t have to stress.”

Cooper chuckled at that last comment of his, though there was certainly concern that fatigue among Lightning players could have been an issue against Seattle, especially with a bug biting its way through Canada’s locker room in Boston. Winnipeg’s Josh Morrisey was bit the hardest and sat out the championship tilt due to illness.

Hagel did not sound so great in the Tampa Bay locker room following Sunday’s win. In fact, Cooper did not think the forward would dress, but he opened the scoring with a pretty shorthanded goal, his third of the season. Overall, Cooper thought the players returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off did very well.

“You worry about those guys and how they are going to play,” he said. “You know they played, but the emotional gymnastics they go through in one of those tournaments is huge. You want them to have a break as well. I could tell our guys were fresh, but I was worried about the tournament players.”