Cooper gets Jack Adams Award surprise at Coop’s Catch for Kids Family Lounge ribbon cutting

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper arrived on Wednesday at the Muma Children’s Hospital at Tampa General Hospital, set to visit area children affected by cancer and cut the ribbon on the Coop’s Catch for Kids Family Lounge—sponsored by the Cooper family—that supplies local families a place to rest during treatment.

He didn’t know it yet, but his on-ice work and community philanthropic efforts were about to mesh into an NHL surprise.

After speaking with media on his passion for helping in the fight against pediatric cancer, Cooper was asked an unexpected question. He wrapped up one answer before being asked to reflect on being a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the NHL coach deemed to have contributed the most to his team’s success. 

While Cooper gave his answer, some familiar faces snuck into the picture. Pediatric cancer survivors Weston Hermann, Remi Sutherland and Cece Ayule joined Lexie Nugent, sister of the late Nicholas “Trippy” Nugent, to surprise Cooper with the Jack Adams Award, being the first ones to inform the Bolts coach that he is this year’s recipient.

The Lightning coach was in disbelief.

“It's almost fitting that it happened this year just because the culmination of what Coop's Catch started and what it has become and now to win this award and have them both intersect,” Cooper said. "So in a way, it was me giving back and then somebody giving to me...In the end, my name will be on this trophy, and I'm extremely fortunate to have my name on the Stanley Cup. But more importantly, to build this in the community and have your name on something that is affecting people that are going through tough times, that's what means everything to me."

Cooper 'blown away’ by surprise, award

This marks Cooper’s first time winning the Jack Adams Award and his third time as a finalist. He was proud of—and surprised by—the honor this week.

"I'm honestly blown away. I never thought this day would ever come,” Cooper said.

Hermann, Sutherland, Ayule and Nugent have participated in the Coop’s Catch for Kids fishing tournament, which is hosted each fall in Tampa. The tournament started by Cooper has raised more than $1.5 million for area families fighting cancer and cancer research, which allowed the lounge to be constructed.

Nugent was excited to be part of the surprise, saying Cooper deserves the recognition. After helping present the honor to Cooper, she said the Nugent family has eagerly awaited Cooper’s turn to win the Jack Adams Award.

“It’s so exciting. That’s a huge deal,” she said. “All of those people on the trophy, there’s a lot on there. So to be one of those people, that’s awesome. And to be involved with that is just really awesome too.”

Cooper coached the Lightning to a 50-26-6 record this past season for the fifth 50-win season in franchise history. He helped the Lightning rank among the NHL’s leaders for wins, goals, goals against, goal differential, road wins, regulation wins, comeback wins and multiple other metrics.

He became the second-fastest coach in league history to reach 600 wins with a 5-1 win on Jan. 12 against the Philadelphia Flyers shortly after coaching in his 1,000th career game—all with Tampa Bay—on Dec. 31.

Cooper was a finalist for the award alongside Pittsburgh’s Dan Muse and Buffalo’s Lindy Ruff. He credited the people around him for helping him earn the award.

“We've had the same ownership group with Jeff Vinik and now with Doug and Mark, and just a phenomenal group. Basically have had the same general management group, whether it was Steve Yzerman or Julien BriseBois, and through thick and thin, they stuck with me. And in the process of all that, a core group of players have stuck together. There's a massive belief in what we're trying to accomplish,” Cooper said.

“I know we don't win the Stanley Cup every year, but I think we bring joy to this fanbase. We give them a playoff run, and is it extremely upsetting when we don't win? It is, but it's a drive in this group that wants us to continue to be better, and because of that this is a byproduct of that. And I can't thank everybody enough.”

Cutting the ribbon on family support at TGH

Wednesday wasn’t just about an NHL award.

Before being surprised, Cooper was at the hospital for a ribbon cutting of the Coop’s Catch for Kids Family Lounge that was made possible by a donation from the J5 Foundation, the Cooper family’s charitable organization. The donation included funds raised by Coop’s Catch for Kids, the tournament he started nine years ago after being inspired by young cancer patient Tony Colton, who passed away in 2017.

Multiple families received care at the children’s hospital on Wednesday, and the lounge has already been in use to give those affected by pediatric cancer a space to relax and recover during treatment. It is a well-utilized space, one TGH President and CEO John Couris said wouldn’t have been possible without the J5 Foundation’s donation.

“We take care of kids all over the state of Florida…They’re the ones that are the sickest and the most complex and oftentimes have the rarest types of diseases, illnesses and chronic conditions. And it's not just the child that comes here. It’s the entire family that comes to us,” Couris said as he pointed to the Coop’s Catch for Kids Family Lounge.

“We have all sorts of support systems for these families that go beyond just caring for the child. A big part of that is a place to get away a little bit and to get out of the room a little bit to just catch your breath, and it's a respite. It's a place where families can come and decompress, recenter themselves, and just spend time with each other.”

Cooper walked around the hospital on Wednesday, stopping to chat with multiple families and children. The lounge and helping others mean just as much to Cooper as what unfolds at Benchmark International Arena during the hockey season.

“You see events like this happen, and you just never know what your path is or how you're going to get to this point, and I didn't realize mine was going to be through an ice hockey rink. Ultimately is our goal to win on the ice and bring joy to the community,? Of course it is,” he said. “But when you go home, what really makes you sleep well at night is being able to be part of something like this and all the generous people around us. It’s a win-win, and it's just a fulfilling sense of what I feel our job and our duty is in this community. It's super cool to team up with such great partners. It’s been phenomenal.”

The new lounge benefits families throughout the various stages of their battles against pediatric cancer, and the children who presented Cooper with the Jack Adams Award have experienced it firsthand. Those children and hospital staff thanked him, saying the Lightning coach cares about more than just winning games in Tampa. 

He proved it again on Wednesday.

“He means everything to us,” Nugent said of the Lightning coach. “He's done so much for us, and we've gone to Coop’s Catch, we were there for his 1,000th game, we’ve been part of Thunder Kid. It’s just all been so fun, and he’s always there for us, he's always checking in and is so kind.”