Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning has won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year.
Guided Tampa to playoffs despite several players missing long stretches with injuries
The Associated Press · Posted: Jun 03, 2026 5:39 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago
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The Lightning’s Jon Cooper finished ahead of the Sabres’ Lindy Ruff and Penguins’ Dan Muse in NHL coach of the year voting by members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association. (Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images via Reuters/File)
Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning has won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year.
The Lightning announced the honour Wednesday. Cooper finished ahead of the Buffalo Sabres’ Lindy Ruff and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Dan Muse in voting by members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association.
It is the first Jack Adams Award for Cooper, the longest-tenured coach in the league at 13 years. He is widely considered among the best at the profession and has two Stanley Cup rings to show for it.
Cooper led the Lightning into the playoffs despite missing several key players for long stretches because of injuries.
WATCH | The 3 coaches who preached the importance of fun to Cooper:
The coaching trio who taught Jon Cooper that fun is a hockey fundamental
In Prince George, B.C., Jon Cooper’s hockey journey was shaped by a trio of coaches who preached the importance of fun, as much as the fundamentals of the game. Corrections and clarifications·Report error