Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper Lauds Maple Leafs' Improvement, Calls Them a 'Defensive Juggernaut'
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper saw a lot of the Maple Leafs last season. He also knows what to say that will get either his team or the opponents talking.
Jon Cooper isn't shy about speaking his mind against his opponents.
One day before his Tampa Bay Lightning are set to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Cooper spoke highly of the improvements his opponents made since they met in the same round last year.
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"The Leafs, to me, keep making positive strides every year. They're a dynamic offensive team with dynamic players. But they've really grown into like a bit of a defensive juggernaut as well," Cooper told reports in Tampa. "That's the recipe you need to win in this league."
The Maple Leafs retooled their defense this season, most notably by picking up Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jake McCabe. They also loaded up on depth by acquiring Erik Gustafsson from the Washington Capitals in exchange for Rasmus Sandin and the Boston Bruins' 2023 first-round draft pick. Toronto also acquired Luke Schenn from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2023 third-round pick.
Cooper could be using this message so that his players take the Maple Leafs seriously, given his Tampa Bay Lightning defeated Toronto in seven games in their 2022 playoffs series.
Toronto and Tampa have been virtually locked into a first-round matchup for the majority of the season, mostly due to the NHL's playoffs format, which is division based. The intent is to create more rivalry and it's hard to argue another Toronto/Tampa series doesn't do that.
But there are other consequences.
It's a shame one of these teams has to be out, but it seems like every year you have one of these marquee matchups that hopefully you'd see down the line," Cooper added. "With only eight teams in each conference making the playoffs, a lot of these matchups happen in the first-round matchups. But they're good for hockey and a lot of fun."
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