Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper hosted the ninth annual Coop’s Catch for Kids charity fishing tournament on Monday, raising $500,000 for pediatric cancer research. The event has now raised more than $2 million since 2016.

Coop’s Catch has become one of Cooper’s favorite traditions of the season, giving him a chance to spend time with the kids and their families. Over the years, the Lightning players have become just as invested in the cause, making the event that much more impactful.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think it would become as big as it is now,” said Cooper. “Aside from winning Stanley Cups, these are two of my favorite days of the year, and it’s super cool because of how much the kids benefit and how much the players care. It’s just a great match and it’s so much fun.”

Cooper joked that he’s not sure he’s caught nine fish in the nine years since the event began.

Since taking over as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 25, 2013, Cooper has put down roots in Tampa Bay, watching the area evolve over the past 13 years.

Cooper and his wife, Jessie, along with their twin daughters, Josie and Julia, and son Jonny, have made giving back to the community a priority through the creation of the J5 Foundation.

“We were just talking about the fact that the kids were able to have their entire youth life, all that they remember, is in one city,” Cooper said earlier this summer. “That’s where I’m just unbelievably thankful and grateful. For them to be able to have stability in their lives and not have to chase me around from city to city has been pretty cool. To be able to share all of this with everybody means a lot.”

In June, Cooper visited Tampa General Hospital for the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Coop’s Catch for Kids Family Lounge, a new space inside Muma Children’s Hospital created to support pediatric cancer patients and their families. The room was funded through proceeds from the annual fishing tournament.

What he didn’t know was that several of the families he’s helped would be there to watch him receive the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the NHL’s Coach of the Year.

“To be honest, it’s almost fitting that it happened this year, just because of the culmination of what Coop’s Catch started as and what it has become,” Cooper said. “And now to win this award and have them both intersect at a time where, in a way, it was me giving back and then somebody giving to me, it’s kind of cool and prophetic the way the whole thing worked out.”

The inspiration behind the Coop’s Catch fishing tournament was Tony Colton, who Cooper met at a local charity event in 2015. Colton was battling cancer at the time, and his speech made an immediate impact. The two quickly developed a friendship, with Cooper inviting Colton to Lightning games and visiting him in the hospital while he underwent treatment.

Colton passed away in 2017 at just 17 years old. Cooper still keeps a card on his desk in his memory.

“The great part about this (tournament) is you’re with the kids and you get to go fishing with them,” Cooper said. “The super difficult part is the kids that we’ve lost in the last few years, and the reason we have this tournament is so that we don’t ever lose kids. And when we stop losing the kids, then we can stop having a tournament, and that’s the tough part. That’s why we do this. That’s why this means so much.”

Over the years, Cooper’s commitment to giving back has also made an impact on his players, who were all smiles out on the water Monday.

“You get to meet these kids throughout the year around the dressing room,” said Lightning forward Brandon Hagel. “They come to some away games, and it’s pretty heartfelt to see these kids and what they go through. Just being able to see them have a smile on their face..”

“We'll never in a million years be able to explain or know what they did go through, but just being there for those kids, and obviously Coop. What he does and how he got this fishing tournament together is a pretty incredible story. It just goes to show what type of guy he is.”