Lightning’s Jon Cooper offers candid assessment of Maple Leafs, Eastern Conference race
Ahead of Saturday’s matchup, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper offered his candid assessment of the Eastern Conference race, and the Maple Leafs’ season overall. Cooper drew upon his experience from the Lightning getting swept in the first round of the 2019 playoffs by the Columbus Blue Jackets, a seismic upset that may never be experienced on that scale again.
“This is as tough as a conference as I’ve ever seen it,” Cooper said, following the Lightning’s morning skate. “I’ve been in this league for a while. From top to bottom. Look for instance, when we played Columbus. Columbus beat us, but we were a massive, heavy favourite. You’ll never see that again. 1-8 again in the Eastern Conference, you’ll never see that because the teams are way too close. This is anybody’s game. It felt like in the West, there was an arms race yesterday when some of the top dogs made themselves better.”
“They don’t have the fruits of the labour the way Florida does,” Cooper said. “It’s probably tougher for the Leafs to swallow in a way. When there’s roster change, it can affect things. I’m not here every day, so I don’t know, but all I haven’t beat the Maple Leafs in I don’t know how long. The Leafs are always hard for me, because I literally haven’t beat them in a year and a half.”