Jon Cooper.
If there’s an “it” guy this summer, it’s Cooper, who ditched practicing law to coach hockey in 2003 and has done nothing but win since – over the past five seasons, he’s compiled a regular season record of 225-80-29, won championships in each of the three leagues he’s coached in along the way, been named AHL Coach of the Year, run off a 28-game win streak in that league, keyed the biggest turn-around in USHL history (and ran off a 20-game win streak in that league), and coached four top-ten offenses and four top-ten defenses. He’s reportedly a great communicator (which would, uh, be a change from the previous administration), and seems to have the right personality to mesh with the current Caps’ captain, perhaps the most important challenge the team’s next coach will face. No wonder there’s buzz (in Washington, Edmonton (and again) and beyond).
Cooper never played in the NHL, hasn’t been an assistant in the League and has only coached professionals for two seasons… and yet teams with coaching vacancies would be crazy not to give him serious consideration for those jobs.
Can Cooper’s meteoric rise continue in the NHL? You’d like to find out, and perhaps the rest of us will as well.
Cooper’s coaching history (via hockeydb.com):
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