“A Photo Finish”: How Jon Cooper Helped Select Team Canada

TAMPA, Fla. – Jon Cooper’s heart sank just before Christmas.

The world turned upside down and stood still at the same time.

We were all confused and cautious and upset and triple-thinking our decisions.

So yes, the National Hockey League would participate in the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. And who better to coach the Canadian national team than this kid from Prince George, B.C., who had just led his club team to back-to-back Stanley Cups?

The late December news hit Cooper like a lump of coal stuck in the toe of a hanging stocking.

“I’ve been on the wrong side of two Stanley Cups, where I had to watch the team on the ice throw up their gloves and cheer, where you had to wait to stand in line (for handshakes). It’s as bad or worse,” Cooper recalls.

“It was disappointing not being able to go.”

So being selected by Hockey Canada for the gig again is a privilege (and an extra workload) for Cooper, something he doesn’t take for granted.

The man who will be behind our country’s bench for both the four-nation warm-up in February and the 2026 Italian Games remembers Henderson in 1972, Gretzky and Lemieux working magic at the 1987 Canada Cup, and to Crosby’s golden touch in ’10.

“These are moments that are simply set in stone, all on the big stage where it’s about representing your country in the best possible way. I think it will be phenomenal for the sport,” Cooper said. “To be one of the guys that takes the lead for our country – especially because there hasn’t really been a best-on-best since 2014 – you have to pinch yourself.”

However, once the pinching is over, the work begins.

Cooper, along with Four Nations GM Don Sweeney and Olympic GM Doug Armstrong, was a vocal participant in the hotly debated roster decisions Team Canada made Sunday night for the February tournament.

“If it was a horse race it would be a photo finish. So close,” Cooper said on Saturday about filling the final spots. “It was a process, but a super cool process. It’s amazing the work management has done. And it was extremely, extremely thorough.”

When time permits, Cooper has begun to develop personal relationships with Canada’s surefire Olympians.

“Colorado, for example. They came to Tampa to play, I sat down with, say, Cale (Makar) or Mac (Nathan MacKinnon) for a while and got to know those players,” Cooper explains. “Otherwise you probably wouldn’t be able to see them.”

The 57-year-old coach was overwhelmed by the quick camaraderie between members of rival NHL clubs. The experience was as educational as it was rewarding.

Sweeney and Cooper are key players in two major Atlantic Division rivals, and both the Bruins and Bolts will be well represented at 4 Nations. Nevertheless, they share information openly, knowing that it is for the good of the country.

“Except he gave me the systems at Boston, where we replaced pretty much everything,” Cooper said.

While Cooper travels with the Lightning, he will meet with GMs and coaches from rival teams to consider candidates for Canada’s roster.

“Probably the biggest thing I took away from this is the honesty,” Cooper said. “There’s just so much honesty, even when other coaches around the league talk about their guys. And don’t be afraid to spice it up, but also talk about the player’s possible weaknesses – and maybe play them that night. But it was a fantastic experience to be a part of.”

Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube, for example, has some Team Canada hopefuls in his room: Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev.

“I spoke to Coop a few times,” Berube said. “It’s just questions about certain players, about your opinion. Can he kill a penalty? Can he check? Because you have to find roles for all these guys, right? Not everyone can play in the top row. Of course I speak to our players.”

We’re assuming Marner is a lock:

Cooper was, of course, cautious about the Canadians who made it, but still offered some insight into management’s mindset. And management has made it clear that it won’t just foist players on Cooper and ask the coach to then determine roles for them.

That should give some two-way Lightning forwards, Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli, a slight advantage at Canada’s deepest position.

“They played really well for us this year. Whether it was the power play, the penalty kill, five-on-five, trying to protect the lead, trying to take the lead, those two guys have taken care of us in every aspect of the game all year long,” Cooper said.

“And it shouldn’t take anything away from anyone. But ask anyone in the locker room, those two guys were really good for us.”

Canada’s 4-nation squad, which will be announced Wednesday evening, was created with the assumption that they will play three games against three different teams.

More than two months will elapse between roster formation and puck drop, and injury-related substitutions can be made at any time up to and including the start of the tournament on February 12.

“I bet there will be at least 10 new players from the four teams,” Cooper said. “If you don’t get named to this team, stay ready. Unfortunately there will probably still be a few places available.”