It's been a historic couple of weeks for Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. First, he coached his 1000th career game right at the end of 2025. Then, less than two weeks into the New Year, he's become the second-fastest coach to reach the 600 win plateau, behind only the legendary Scotty Bowman who was behind the bench for the legendary Montreal Canadiens dynasty of the 1970's.
Most impressively, Cooper has recorded all 600 wins as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. It's rare a coach gets the opportunity to stick with an organization for that length of time, yet he's figured out a way to prevent his message from becoming stale in the locker room and continues driving success.
By hitting the 600-win mark, Cooper has joined exclusive company, as he's become the 25th coach to hit the milestone. Assuming things go to plan, Cooper could easily surpass Bruce Boudreau, Jacques Lemaire, and Bryan Murray in wins this season. If he's aiming for the top spot though, he's not even halfway there, as the aforementioned Bowman recorded 1,244 wins in his career.
Cooper will get the opportunity to aim for win number 601 tonight, as the Lightning face the Pittsburgh Penguins.