Lightning head coach Jon Cooper on personal leave

The Tampa Bay Lightning will return from the Olympic break without their head coach. Jon Cooper will miss the team’s Wednesday and Thursday matchups for a personal leave of absence following the death of his father, per NHL.com’s Benjamin Pierce. Cooper spent the last three weeks in Milan, Italy, for the Winter Olympics where he served as Team Canada’s head coach en route to a silver-medal finish.

Like at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off, the championship game between USA and Canada required extra time. While superstar Connor McDavid was able to clinch the 4 Nations win with an overtime goal, Canada lost their chance at the Gold medal thanks to a goal from New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes. The win came three days after Team USA’s women’s hockey team won the Gold medal over Team Canada’s women’s team with their own sudden-death goal.

Cooper was outspoken about the Olympics' 3v3 overtime structure following the game, sharing that the sport doesn’t resemble hockey with two players removed from the ice for both sides, per Michael Traikos of The Hockey News. The move to 3v3 was a new change this season, after the IIHF long operated with a 4v4 overtime structure. Overtime was 5v5 in the NHL’s 4-Nation Face-Off.

Cooper’s players still left Milan with a medal in hand, in no small part thanks to their coach’s ability to manage a tight ship. The Lightning have made the playoffs in 11 of the last 12 NHL seasons. They won the Stanley Cup twice — back-to-back in 2020 and 2021 — and made the Cup Finals twice more, in 2015 and 2022. Tampa Bay seems well set to continue their playoff streak, leading the NHL’s Atlantic Division.

Assistant coach Jeff Halpern stepped in to fill Cooper’s absence through a brief leave during the 2021 COVID-impacted season. Halpern remains in the same role and could be the top option to replace Tampa Bay’s command. Tampa Bay’s official choice for short-term head coach has not been announced.