Tampa Bay Lightning’s Best Head Coaches Before Jon Cooper – The Hockey Writers – Tampa Bay Lightning

It’s hard to pinpoint head coach Jon Cooper‘s exact impact on the Tampa Bay Lightning. In a sense, it’s a pairing that was meant to be. Cooper and the Lightning had to beat the odds to get where they are. The Lightning had to weather the storm of their early, unprofitable years. Cooper had to work his way up from coaching high school hockey, and if he hadn’t won at every level, he might not have made it as far as the NHL.

Today, he’s had one of the best runs by a head coach in modern hockey history. All the winning aside, once he completes his 14th full season at the helm, he will have been in charge for 40% of the team’s history. There are fans old enough to drive with no memory of another head coach, because they are too young to remember anyone else. That speaks volumes.

Now is a good time for a deep dive into who held the Lightning coaching job before Cooper. There have been nine head coaches in franchise history, and only three of them coached more than 195 games.

Here, we’ll look at the other two with long-term tenures in Tampa Bay: John Tortorella and Terry Crisp. Both coaches saw milestone moments and helped pave the way to where the Lightning are today. But it also shows how much Cooper stands above the rest.

John Tortorella, 2001-02 to 2007-08

There was a time when John Tortorella wasn’t part of that veteran coaching merry-go-round, getting passed along from team to team. After his brief tenure as the Vegas Golden Knights’ interim head coach last season that led to a Stanley Cup Final appearance, it’s especially timely to look back.

He was once a 45-year-old head coach who led a warm-weather team to a Stanley Cup in 2004. He was seven years younger than Cooper at the time. With Tortorella behind the bench, the Lightning went 239-222-36-38 in the regular season (there are 36 ties included in that record, separate from overtime losses). He’s one of three head coaches in team history with a winning points percentage.

The Lightning also won two division titles under Tortorella and made the playoffs in four consecutive seasons (that were played – there was no 2004-05 season due to a lockout).

Terry Crisp, 1992-93 to 1997-98

Terry Crisp was the first head coach in franchise history. It didn’t translate to too much success, but he was still a pioneer and came into the job as a three-time Stanley Cup champion, one as a head coach and two as a player.

Being tasked with leading an expansion team is no easy task. At the time, they were given the runt of the litter to work with. He picked up the first win in franchise history on opening night and went from there. To his credit, the Lightning improved from 53 points in their inaugural season in 1992-93 to a more respectable 71 the following season, earning at least a point in 41 of 84 games.

His best campaign was in 1995-96, the Lightning’s first winning season and its first playoff appearance. Part of that first playoff appearance included 28,183 fans packed into the Thunderdome in St. Petersburg, Fla., which is still a record.

However, on paper, nothing else really stands out during his time as head coach. He didn’t even see the end of his final season. But his importance is undeniable, coaching an expansion team that eventually became one of the best in the NHL. His one playoff appearance also helped build an early fanbase, which likely helped them survive long enough to reach their seasons of glory.

Nobody will overtake Cooper’s spot at the top. But it’s also fun to revisit old head coaches, since they are part of the franchise’s foundation, and the Lightning wouldn’t be who they are without them.