List of Tampa Bay Lightning head coaches

The Lightning have played their home games at Amalie Arena since 1996.

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,[1] the team joined the NHL in 1992 as an expansion team, and have won the Stanley Cup championship in 2004, 2020 and 2021.[2] Having first played in the Expo Hall,[3] and later in the ThunderDome (now known as Tropicana Field),[4] 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,[5] the Stanley Cup,[2] 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.[6] Cooper is the only head coach of the Lightning to win the Prince of Wales Trophy four times.[7] 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

# Number of coaches[a]
GC Games coached
W Wins = 2 points
L Losses = 0 points
T Ties = 1 point
OT Overtime/shootout losses = 1 point[b]
PTS Points
Win% Winning percentage
* Spent entire NHL head coaching career with the Lightning

Coaches

Jon Cooper has been head coach since 2013

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 NHL season.

Head coaches of the Tampa Bay Lightning
# Name Term[c] Regular season Playoffs Achievements Reference
GC W L T/OT PTS PTS% GC W L Win%
1 Terry Crisp 1992–1998 391 142 204 45 329 .421 6 2 4 .333 [8]
2 Rick Paterson* 1998 6 0 6 0 0 .000 — — — — [9]
3 Jacques Demers 1998–1999 147 34 96 17 85 .289 — — — — [10]
4 Steve Ludzik* 1999–2001 121 31 67 23 85 .351 — — — — [11]
5 John Tortorella 2001–2008 535 239 222 74 552 .516 45 24 21 .533 Stanley Cup championship: 2004[2]
Jack Adams Award winner: 2003–04[12]
Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2004[5] 		[13]
6 Barry Melrose 2008 16 5 7 4 14 .438 — — — — [14]
7 Rick Tocchet 2008–2010 148 53 69 26 132 .446 — — — — [15]
8 Guy Boucher 2010–2013 196 97 79 20 214 .546 18 11 7 .611 [16]
9 Jon Cooper* 2013–present 879 525 279 75 1,125 .640 150 87 63 .580 NHL All-Star Game: 2018, 2019[17][18]
Presidents' Trophy winner: 2018–19[19]
Stanley Cup championship: 2020, 2021
Prince of Wales Trophy winner: 2015, 2020, 2021, 2022[20] 		[21]

Notes

  • 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.
  • 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.[22]
  • c Each year is linked to an article about that particular NHL season.

References

General
  • "Tampa Bay Lightning Coach Register". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
Specific
  1. ^ "Lightning Unveil Third Jerseys vs. Devils". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. 2008-11-23. Archived from the original on 2008-12-27. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  2. ^ a b c "2004 Stanley Cup Champions". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2007-11-05. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  3. ^ "1992-93 The Fun Begins". NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  4. ^ "Tropicana Field History". MLB.com. MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  5. ^ a b "Prince of Wales Trophy". NHL. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2006-04-23. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  6. ^ "Lightning name Jon Cooper as head coach". Lightning.nhl.com. March 25, 2013. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
  7. ^ "Prince of Wales Trophy". NHL. The National Hockey League. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  8. ^ "Terry Crisp Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  9. ^ "Rick Paterson Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2017-07-18.
  10. ^ "Jacques Demers Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  11. ^ "Steve Ludzik Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  12. ^ "Jack Adams Award". NHL. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  13. ^ "John Tortorella Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  14. ^ "Barry Melrose Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  15. ^ "Rick Tocchet Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
  16. ^ "Guy Boucher hockey statistics & profile at hockeydb.com". Hockeydb.com. Hockey DB. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  17. ^ NHL (January 7, 2018). "Jon Cooper named Atlantic Division coach for 2018 NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  18. ^ "Jon Cooper named Atlantic Division coach at 2019 NHL All-Star Game". NHL.com. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
  19. ^ Blackburn, Pete (March 18, 2019). "Tampa Bay Lightning are your 2018-2019 Presidents' Trophy winners ... obviously". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 18, 2019.
  20. ^ "Prince of Wales Trophy". NHL. The National Hockey League. Retrieved 2015-06-17.
  21. ^ "Jon Cooper Coaching Record". Hockey-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 2013-03-29.
  22. ^ "Official Rules" (PDF). NHL.com. Lincoln Hockey and the National Hockey League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-12-21.