By Mari Faiello
Special from the Tampa Bay Times
Like many Lightning fans, Jon Cooper is ready for hockey to return.
The coach has stayed in touch with his players, revisited the joys of math with his children and learned what podcasts are really all about while taking long bike rides along Anna Maria Island (where he resides year-round) for his daily workout. And yes, he has tuned into Alex Killorn’s “Dock Talk with Killer” episodes on Instagram Live.
But when — or if — hockey returns this season after being put on hold March 12 because of the coronavirus pandemic, Cooper said the Lightning will be ready to get back onto the ice.
“As long as we get to come back and play, and it’s safe for everyone and we can put a smile on people’s faces, it doesn’t matter where we play, what planet we play on, I think it’s a good thing,” Cooper said on a conference call Friday.
He isn’t worried just about the safety of his players, but also that of the fans, staff, officials and everyone else involved in holding games.
Cooper is holding out hope that at some point things will get back to normal, that social distancing won’t have to be a concern and you can walk up to someone, ask how they’re doing, shake their hand and maybe “crack open a beer.”
“I hope social interactions don’t go away,” he said. “It’s important that we try to get back to normal, because the normal is great.”
Cooper has spent a lot of time watching film and working with his staff on analysis that they wouldn’t normally have time to do until the offseason.
“We’ve really dug deep into trying to look at things we can improve on as a group,” Cooper said. “It’s been welcome because … it seemed like you had so much time on your hands at the beginning of this pandemic, and now it feels like you don’t have any time on your hands just with how we’ve been digging into things with our team.
“Now we want to apply it and get back to work and see what we can do with the rest of the season.”
When he’s not looking at film or taking a bicycle ride, Cooper is spending time with his family, playing board games and watching TV with his wife, Jessie, and their three children: twin daughters Josie and Julia, 11, and son Jonny, 9.
Of note: Lightning announce #StickTogether auction to benefit coronavirus relief efforts.
Lightning’s Alex Killorn announces ‘Dock Talk’ T-shirt sale to help children in need.
Reprinted with permission from the Tampa Bay Times. Contact Mari Faiello at mfaiello@tampabay.com or follow @faiello_mari.