"This has basically been our home," Cooper said of the practice rink, their Hotel X accommodations and their Toronto bubble. "I think it's going to be weird. Even practicing today, leaving the practice arena, we've been there basically five days a week. I don't know, you get a little nostalgic here even though it's only been 40 days…But we're looking forward to moving on because moving on somewhere else means we've advanced and we're doing something right. I think it'll be a good chance with the new surroundings to be like a reset for us, and I think that's going to help with our mental makeup going into Game 1."
The Lightning took Tuesday and Wednesday off following their defeat of the Boston Bruins in Game 5 Monday to clinch the series 4-1 and got back on the ice for practice sessions Thursday and Friday. The key in these next couple days is to take advantage of the extra rest the team will have over its opponent in the next round while maintaining the sharpness they displayed in series victories over Columbus and Boston.
"I think the only way you can do that is by imitating game-like situations in practice," Alex Killorn said. "I know the past two days we've had really good practices. They haven't been incredibly long, but they've been very high paced. You want to make sure in these days you get your rest because that's definitely an advantage over teams that are playing, but you also don't want to lose that edge going forward, that edge that you had when you were playing every other day."
The Lightning will have gone a week between games from the end of their Second Round series against Boston to the beginning of the Eastern Conference Final, whoever their opponent might be.
"We've just got to depend on the mental side of things for us that we know once you get this far, there's only going to be four teams left," Cooper said. "You can't not only take games off, you can't take shifts off. The first games of the series, those first few shifts, you've got to make sure your guys are into, and as a coaching staff that's our job."
STAMKOS SORT-OF UPDATE: Jon Cooper said he'll give an update on Lightning captain Steven Stamkos before the Eastern Conference Final starts. Stamkos hasn't played this postseason and has been out since undergoing surgery to repair a core muscle injury March 2.
Stamkos' last game came in the regular season February 25 versus Toronto.
Cooper was asked how Stamkos is still able to be a leader for the team without contributing on the ice.
"This year's team, it's a close group. It's a really close group," Cooper answered. "Everybody wants him to play, and he wants to play…You get caught up in the collective momentum of how we're doing things and everybody's just pushing each other. He's just as big a supporter of our group as anybody. And so it's good to see."
NEXT CONTESTANT ON LAST COMIC STANDING?:Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and forward Tyler Johnson were asked during Friday's media availability to give insight into Andrei Vasilevskiy's personality.
Namely, what's something the public might not know about him his teammates in the locker room know?
Both said the Lightning netminder is one of the funnier people they've met.
"He always makes jokes when he's around guys, with us Russians," Sergachev said. "He's just that guy that's always trying to make you laugh. He does it really well. He's got a great sense of humor."
Johnson said Vasilevskiy can be "a little bit goofy in a way" with some of the things he says.
"Just a fun guy to have around, not too serious really unless it's about hockey," Johnson said. "He's great in the locker room."
QUIP OF THE DAY:Jon Cooper was asked to think back to September of this season and when he wanted to implement different elements into his team's game and if his commitment to implementing those elements ever wavered when the team was struggling through the first two months of the season.
"Are we talking September 2020 or September 2019? It's all the same run-on season," Cooper joked.
