List of Tampa Bay Lightning head coaches
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File:St Pete Times Forum At Sunset.jpg
The Tampa Bay Lightning are an American professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Often referred to as the Bolts,{{cite web|url=http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=394050 |title=Lightning Unveil Third Jerseys vs. Devils |publisher=Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League |work=NHL.com |date=2008-11-23 |accessdate=2008-12-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227211443/http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=394050 |archivedate=2008-12-27 }} the team joined the NHL in 1992 as an expansion team, and have won the Stanley Cup championship in 2004, 2020 and 2021. Having first played in the Expo Hall,{{cite web|url=http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=7084|title=1992-93 The Fun Begins|publisher=Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League|work=NHL.com|accessdate=2008-12-21|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217182004/http://lightning.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NHLPage&id=7084|archivedate=2008-12-17}} and later in the ThunderDome (now known as Tropicana Field),{{cite web|url=http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/ballpark/ballpark_history.jsp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111181648/http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/tb/ballpark/ballpark_history.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 11, 2007|title=Tropicana Field History|publisher=MLB Advanced Media, L.P|work=MLB.com|accessdate= 2008-12-21}} the Lightning have played their home games at the Ice Palace, currently titled Amalie Arena, since 1996. The Lightning are owned by Jeffrey Vinik, Julien BriseBois is their general manager, and Steven Stamkos is the team captain.
There have been nine head coaches for the Lightning franchise. The team's first head coach was Terry Crisp, who coached for five seasons. John Tortorella, the only American to head coach the team, was the first Lightning coach to have won the Prince of Wales Trophy, the Stanley Cup, and to have been awarded the Jack Adams Award, all of which happened in the 2003–04 season. Steve Ludzik and Jon Cooper are the only two head coaches who have spent their entire NHL head coaching careers with the Lightning.
Jon Cooper is the team's current head coach, having been named to the position on March 25, 2013.{{cite web |url=http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=662090 |title=Lightning name Jon Cooper as head coach |date=March 25, 2013 |work=Lightning.nhl.com |accessdate=March 25, 2013}} Cooper is the only head coach of the Lightning to win the Prince of Wales Trophy four times.{{cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=24967|title=Prince of Wales Trophy|publisher=The National Hockey League|work=NHL|accessdate=2022-08-02}} Under Cooper, the franchise won its second Stanley Cup championship in 2020 and third championship in 2021. Cooper is the franchise's all-time leader for the most regular season wins (480), playoff games coached (139), and the most playoff-games won (84).
Key
| class="wikitable" |
| #
|Number of coaches{{ref label|Note1|a|a}} |
| GC
|Games coached |
| W
|Wins = 2 points |
| L
|Losses = 0 points |
| T
|Ties = 1 point |
| OT
|Overtime/shootout losses = 1 point{{ref label|Note2|b|b}} |
| PTS |
| Win% |
| style="background-color:#ddffdd"|*
| Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Lightning |
Coaches
File:Jonathan D. Cooper 2022 (cropped).jpg has been head coach since 2013]]
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 NHL season.
Notes
- {{note label|Note1|a|a}} A running total of the number of coaches of the Lightning. Thus, any coach who has two or more separate terms as head coach is only counted once.
- {{note label|Note2|b|b}} Before the 2005–06 season, the NHL instituted a penalty shootout for regular season games that remained tied after a five-minute overtime period, which prevented ties.{{cite web|url=http://www.nhl.com/ext/0708rules.pdf|title=Official Rules|publisher=Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League|work=NHL.com|accessdate=2008-12-21|format=PDF|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511234846/http://www.nhl.com/ext/0708rules.pdf|archivedate=2008-05-11}}
- {{note label|Note3|c|c}}Each year is linked to an article about that particular NHL season.
References
;General
- {{cite web|url=https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/TBL/coaches.html|title=Tampa Bay Lightning Coach Register|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=Hockey-Reference.com|accessdate=2015-06-17}}
;Specific
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{{Tampa Bay Lightning}}
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