Stanley Cup Final
Jared Bednar Rebuts Jon Cooper ‘Too Many Men’ Charge
A lot – a lot – was made about the post-game dramatic mic drop of Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper following his team’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Cooper said he would “talk tomorrow” about his opaque insinuation that the Avalanche won the game because of a faulty non-call of too many men, in OT. While some in the Tampa media immediately latched on to Cooper’s sentiments as gospel, the rest of the hockey world dismissed it as sour grapes. And, rightly so.
Today, Cooper seemed to want it both ways. On the one hand, he said, he was just reacting emotionally after a tough loss at home in the Stanley Cup Final. On the other hand, he called it “unfortunate” that the NHL officiating crew “missed it” on his alleged too-many-men accusation.
Look, I think Jon Cooper is obviously a very good coach and, while I’ve never talked to him one-on-one, seems like a very good person. And, coaches are coaches. They “didn’t see it” if their team did it, and see it only too well if something bad happened to them. Cooper’s team got away with a blatant too-many-men missed call in beating the Islanders in a seven-game ECF series last year.
Here’s what Bednar said today, before leaving Tampa with the team:
Jared Bednar on 2-many men: pic.twitter.com/fARDeHmunO
— Michael Traikos (@Michael_Traikos) June 23, 2022
Here’s Cooper today:
Jon Cooper essentially admits he was just being a sore loser after the Game 4 loss. Doesn’t seem to upset by the too many men stuff this morning
— Drew Livingstone (@ProducerDrew_) June 23, 2022
If Nazem Kadri doesn’t beat the Lightning 1-on-3 against the “best goalie in the world”, then there’s no issue. That kind of line change, as Bednar said, happens almost every other time. Tampa truly did have seven guys on the ice at the time too, with two guys still about to get on the bench when Kadri had the puck.
Cooper knows it. It’s too bad he didn’t acknowledge that today too. Or, I should say, it’s “unfortunate.”
So @TBLightning complain about the OT Goal but yet while the @Avalanche had six men on the ice, Tampa had seven and still got smoked on that beautiful goal. That Tampa coach may need to be quiet and accept the Avs are a faster team than his squad, losing a 7 on 6 in OT pic.twitter.com/83uEh7ymQq
— Eric Pierre, CPA (@yourfavecpa) June 23, 2022
Important NHL, Avalanche Offseason Calendar Dates
Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup Parade Thursday
Bobby Orr Tweets Congrats To Cale Makar
GAME 6 COLORADO AVALANCHE REPORT CARD
For Joe and Debbie Sakic, Winning Never Gets Old (+)
Jared Bednar Rebuts Jon Cooper ‘Too Many Men’ Charge
DATER: It’s Just One Loss, But Kuemper Remains the Avalanche Worry (+)
DATER: Memories of 1996 Avalanche Cup Final And Today Are Downright Eerie
AVALANCHE WRAP: “Feels Good But The Job’s Not Done”
This is hilarous. Kinda like that punk from STL the Avs had to deal with. I heard Altitude radio earlier and they played the theme from Titanic over that Cooper press conference and it was brilliant. Mortifying.
Tired of Altitude promoting gat Pride month. Peter McNab with his Pride pin and Pride tie and the little Pride logo on the mics when the players are taking questions. Guess hockey enthusiasts need to be Woke too.
Omg. Really? Enjoy the win and give it a rest.
It’s best to be thought a fool then to post and remove all doubt
I’m sorry that you have to live with so much hate in your heart. It just be extremely painful.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Dude, just grow up and keep your hate to yourself. Sincerely someone who cares deeply about the LGBTQIA+ community.
I don’t! Gross really!
Ugh, keep that to yourself champ.
Or just let others believe what they want and live their own lives and you go on living your life your way. No one is forcing anything on you. Are you really that offended by the colors of the rainbow? ROFL Time to grow up, guy.
Really dude? There’s no place for those types of ignorant comments here.
I do love your sarcasm!
To be kind, Copper is a pompous ass, and I’ve thought that for years. If it wasn’t for a phantom high-stick penalty midway through the third period of Game 6 in round one, there’s a very good chance that his team would have been on the fairways weeks ago. I hope the Avs smoke him and his team like a bad cigar in Game 5. Can’t wait to see him and his overrated team in the handshake line.
Yes indeed, let’s add a field goal to the tochdown of game two. And a shutout by Kuemper!
Copper? Zinc/ Lead? Oh you meant Cooper…got it.
My take is as follows. If you follow the letter of the law, I think you are right in saying that Kadri got on the ice too early and obtained a bit of an advantage in doing so and thus could have penalized (also regardless of how many players Tampa had on the ice). However, the reality is that cheating on line changes is part of hockey just as stealing bases is part of baseball, which is why the rule is a bit vague and leaves plenty of room for referees to exercise judgement. The actual advantage he gained from… Read more »
Tampa skirted it too. MacKinnon was lazy getting off. Many other outcomes could have occurred, but did not. Cooper should realize many calls were not made in the later stages of the game and the trend continued.
Jon Pooper!
It seems to me that the coach is trying to deflect all the attention and pressure away from his players. Can be a smart move, but it also came across as if he was eulogizing the end of their run. It will be interesting to see if this gets any traction with the players during press availability on Friday morning. The way I see game 5 going will depend a lot on the mental state of each team, but primarily the Avs. If they can come out in the first period and give them the proverbial punch in the mouth… Read more »
If Kuemper gives it to Byram this is absolutely nothing. It was a slow change meant for a D to take it behind the net and wait for everything to reset (probably why MacK went so slowly off). But instead Kuemper sent it up. It was borderline but not egregious.
Karmic make up for the Bolts Islanders last year and the Landy “offside” against San Jose.
Well, I have to admit, even as an Avs fan, that was offside, Yes, Tampa had seven guys on, but look at the distance between Mackinnon and Kadri, and the two that came on for the lightning pair. NOT EVEN CLOSE. Sorry. Moreover, Kadri had the puck before Mackinnon was offf. Too bad, cause it was an absolute beeauty of a goal, and should go down in history, but will always be marred by controversy. BUT, Avs were going to win anyway – they completely dominated overtime. 2 bars. Something like 13 shots to 2? Shouldnt matter much anyway.
I have really grown to love and appreciate Bednar. His skills as a coach have really strengthened here, but I have taken for granted his direct and objective, accountable messaging. After the last couple opposing coaches, one which is simply disgraceful, and the other that continually avoids, deflects, distracts and sells past achievements as a strategy going forward, Bednar’s character resonates so much more. And I truly appreciate being treated like an intelligent adult. I like that Joe has chosen to try to build an organization based on character first, then trying to win with that! Such respect for these… Read more »
Oh, what’s that, it’s Friday gameday? Avs have a golden chance to put TB in the rearview mirror tonightat home. Looking forward to a great game and lots of goals!
Bednar is 100% right and if you look at the stupid screen shots people are posting the supposed extra player is easily inside that 1,5 meters (can’t recall the NA measures but same in NHL rules). Just embarrassing for Cooper and shows how screwed Tampa is and feels.
Oof. This aged poorly. You may want to delete that last line after tonight.