History with Cooper & the organization helps land Zettler on Bolts staff

Rob Zettler had barely settled into retirement before he picked up the phone and his next career began.
A veteran defenseman of 14 years in the National Hockey League, Zettler officially called it quits as a player following the 2001-02 season at the age of 33. He was a Third Round draft pick (No. 55 overall) of the Minnesota North Stars in 1986. He played 569 games in the NHL, his debut coming with Minnesota on February 1, 1989.

Zettler was claimed by San Jose from Minnesota in the dispersal draft and was on the Sharks' inaugural team in 1991-92. He spent parts of three seasons with the Sharks before moving on to Philadelphia, Toronto, Nashville and finally Washington for three seasons.
After announcing his retirement, Zettler moved back to San Jose where his wife was from and where he played the most (196 games). He started doing radio work for the Sharks' broadcast, breaking down game action during intermissions. San Jose was a Stanley Cup contender in 2002-03 but stumbled out of the gate and fired head coach Darryl Sutter along with the rest of his staff by December. Doug Wilson was brought in as the new head coach. Zettler played for Wilson his last three seasons. He phoned his former coach to offer his services.
"I just called him and said, 'Hey, listen, I've been watching these guys for a few months, if you need any intel on them, let me know. I'm happy to share,'" Zettler recalled. "Not thinking that it would lead to a job. I was just trying to help out."
Zettler had shown interest in coaching once his playing days were finished. He would attend coaching seminars while still a player. Sometimes he'd bump into Wilson, who would be giving a lecture.
"We'd chat afterward or talk about coaching or talk about whatever he was presenting on," Zettler said. "So he knew of the interest."
Wilson took Zettler up on his offer.
And then he asked him if he wanted a job on his coaching staff.
"It's a pretty good place to start from, obviously very fortunate," Zettler said about beginning his coaching career as an assistant in the NHL. "I was familiar with the team, familiar with the players, so it really was the stars aligning and that's where my coaching career took off. I kind of jumped in with both feet. You feel like you're treading water a little bit at first but then you get into it. I love it. It's why I've been doing it for 20 years."
Zettler was an assistant under Wilson for five seasons in San Jose. He followed Wilson to Toronto for another four seasons with the Maple Leafs before Wilson was fired and replaced by Randy Carlyle in 2012 and Zettler was looking for a new employer.
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During the 2012 offseason, Zettler was presenting at a NHL coaching clinic.
In the audience was Jon Cooper, at the time the head coach of the Syracuse Crunch and fresh off of winning a Calder Cup with the American Hockey League's Norfolk Admirals, a season that included a North American professional hockey record 28-game win streak (the Lightning would switch their AHL affiliate from Norfolk to Syracuse the offseason following that Calder Cup victory).
Cooper had an opening on his Crunch coaching staff and liked what he was hearing from Zettler. He reached out to Zettler and asked if he'd be interested in interviewing for the position.
Zettler didn't know Cooper, so he started asking his coaching friends about him. The reports he got back were all positive.
"You looked at the track record and you knew right away he was kind of a guy that was up and coming and you just wanted to be part of his staff and learn and grow a little bit more as a coach," Zettler said. "And that's exactly what happened when I joined him."
Zettler worked directly under Cooper for less than a season. In March of 2013, the Lightning fired head coach Guy Boucher and brought Cooper up to take over. Cooper is now the longest tenured head coach in the NHL, won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020 and owns the best win percentage (.645) among active coaches and 11th best all-time in the League.
Zettler took over the Crunch when Cooper moved to the NHL for his first head coaching gig.
"Coop had some success at the AHL level and then I came in and we kind of kept it going there for that year, so it was fun," Zettler said. "I knew it was just a matter of time before he was going to get a shot at the NHL."
Zettler guided the Crunch to the Calder Cup Final in 2013 after taking over as head coach and remained in Syracuse for three more seasons, compiling a record of 108-90-41 before being let go.
He moved back to San Jose and took a season off in 2016-17, his first since entering the NHL as a player in 1989. He spent time with his family, coached his son's youth hockey team. But the itch to get back into coaching persisted. During the 2017 offseason, an assistant position became available on Pete DeBoer's staff in San Jose, and Zettler signed up for his second go-round as a Sharks assistant.
"That was a no brainer," Zettler said. "I was already in San Jose. I was going to games, watching them. I was familiar with them, the team. It worked out well."
After being let go from the Sharks following the 2018-19 season, Zettler joined the Oates Sports Group and former teammate Adam Oates as personal instructor.
"It's a little bit of a different approach to coaching because you just kind of deep dive into the relationship and into personal skills, how to get the individual better," Zettler said. "You kind of set aside systems and schemes for the time being and you just focus on making this one player better. It was a lot of fun because you made some really cool relationships that I'll have for a long time. And I learned a lot. Adam's a smart hockey guy. He showed me a lot of different things. He looks at the game at a really high level. It was a great experience and it helped me become a better coach."
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When Zettler looked at his ringing phone a couple weeks ago and the caller ID showed Jon Cooper, he expected his former boss was calling to catch up.
Zettler and Cooper remained in contact even after Cooper moved on to Tampa Bay and Zettler eventually made his way back west.
"Just casual phone calls to see what's happening in our lives or talk hockey or whatever the situation may be," Zettler explained.
But Cooper had another motive: He wanted to gauge Zettler's interest in joining his coaching staff. Todd Richards decided to leave the Lightning and join new head coach John Hynes and his staff in Nashville this offseason. That left a rare coaching opening on a team coming off a Stanley Cup win.
Zettler was definitely interested.
"Coop had to do his due diligence and make sure I was the right guy for him," Zettler said. "But our history was good. We had good energy together. We had a good working relationship. We had some success on the ice, and we had a lot of fun together. It was great. I really enjoyed working for him. I'd always hoped one day we'd be able to work together again. I didn't see it coming, that's for sure, especially after a team wins the Cup. There usually aren't a lot of changes after that. There just happened to be an opportunity, and I'm just thankful that he called."
Zettler is certainly familiar with the Lightning coaching staff and not just Cooper. That first season in Syracuse, Zettler, Cooper and Brian Garlock, now the Bolts' video coordinator, spent a lot of time together. Zettler was a teammate of Jeff Halpern his three seasons in Washington when Halpern was just beginning a NHL playing career that would last nearly 1,000 games.
Zettler was around when Halpern began his coaching career too.
"When I was head coach in Syracuse, we brought (Halpern) in for his first coaching gig," Zettler recalled. "He was helping us out in Syracuse as a player development coach, so not only did I play with him but I coached with him for a little while in Syracuse."
Zettler met Lightning assistant Derek Lalonde through Cooper. Lalonde helped out at a development camp Zettler was running when he was still the Crunch head coach as well. And Zettler knows Lightning goalie coach Frantz Jean from his previous stint in the organization.
"I know all of them well," Zettler said. "I hope that it's going to be seamless, just good guys, working hard trying to win hockey games. That's kind of what I see that as, and I'm looking forward to joining that group."
Zettler's primary responsibility as a Lightning assistant will be the blue line.
He inherits a defensive corps that allowed 2.77 goals per game during the 2019-20 regular season, tied for seventh fewest in the NHL, that number whittled down to 2.28 goals against in their 25-game playoff run to the Stanley Cup.
But it's a blue line with a couple holes to fill as well. Kevin Shattenkirk (Anaheim) and Zach Bogosian (Toronto) both signed free agent deals elsewhere in the offseason. Erik Cernak isn't under contract yet, although Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois maintains he's one of three restricted free agents that are priorities for Tampa Bay to re-sign along with Mikhail Sergachev, who inked a new three-year deal November 25, and Anthony Cirelli, BriseBois saying he felt confident all three would be in the fold before the start of the season.
"You look down the list, they've kind of got all of it when you look at the back end," Zettler said. "…I've talked to all of them already and I've shared with them that I'm really excited to coach them and be with them and kind of keep this train rolling. And they seem to be pretty open minded about a new guy coming in and helping them out too."
It might be intimidating to walk into a coaching situation where the previous year the team achieved its ultimate goal and now the goal is not to mess up a good thing.
Zettler doesn't view his assignment as intimidating, however.
It's a challenge, and an exciting one at that.
"I think these guys got a taste of it and they want more," Zettler said. "And I certainly want to be a part of that. I'm looking forward to getting started."