Jon Cooper comments on his ejection and the lack of calls on Pittsburgh
It has happened before in the NHL, but it's certainly not a common occurrence. Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper was given the boot from Thursday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins after yelling at referee Wes McCauley for an extended period of time. Following the game, which the Lightning lost 5-1, Cooper said he was shocked that his team was down a man on the play and that's why he was yelling at McCauley. He didn't believe he should have been thrown out.
"I'm not so sure in all the years, what I said is something he'd never heard before in the history of reffing," said Cooper.
He then carefully implied that the Penguins seem to get special treatment from the officials.
"That team, for some reason, they're by far the lowest penalized team in the league. I'm not sure why, but they are," he said.
According to Sportsnet Stats, Cooper is the first head coach in the NHL to be ejected from a game since Peter DeBoer on November 24th of 2018. DoBoer was coaching the San Jose Sharks at the time.
| POLL | ||
MARS 4 | 52 ANSWERS Jon Cooper comments on his ejection and the lack of calls on Pittsburgh Should Cooper have been ejected from Thursday night's game? | ||
| Yes, he just needed to shut up | 18 | 34.6 % |
| No, Wes McCauley was on a power trip | 24 | 46.2 % |
| I'm not sure | 10 | 19.2 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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| Elias Lindholm | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mats Zuccarello | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matt Duchene | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Hartman | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kirill Kaprizov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jason Robertson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tage Thompson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jonathan Aspirot | - | - | - | |
| Oskar Back | - | - | - | |
| Jamie Benn | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Lian Bichsel | - | - | - | |
| Colin Blackwell | - | - | - | |
| Zach Bogosian | - | - | - | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | - | - | |
| Mavrik Bourque | - | - | - | |
| Bobby Brink | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||
| 2025-2026 NHL STANDINGS | ||||||
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Sabres | 82 | 50 | 23 | 9 | 109 | |
| Lightning | 82 | 50 | 26 | 6 | 106 | |
| Canadiens | 82 | 48 | 24 | 10 | 106 | |
| Bruins | 82 | 45 | 27 | 10 | 100 | |
| Senators | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 99 | |
| Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 31 | 10 | 92 | |
| Panthers | 82 | 40 | 38 | 4 | 84 | |
| Maple Leafs | 82 | 32 | 36 | 14 | 78 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Hurricanes | 82 | 53 | 22 | 7 | 113 | |
| Penguins | 82 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 98 | |
| Flyers | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 98 | |
| Capitals | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 95 | |
| Blue Jackets | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 92 | |
| Islanders | 82 | 43 | 34 | 5 | 91 | |
| Devils | 82 | 42 | 37 | 3 | 87 | |
| Rangers | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Avalanche | 82 | 55 | 16 | 11 | 121 | |
| Stars | 82 | 50 | 20 | 12 | 112 | |
| Wild | 82 | 46 | 24 | 12 | 104 | |
| Mammoth | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Blues | 82 | 37 | 33 | 12 | 86 | |
| Predators | 82 | 38 | 34 | 10 | 86 | |
| Jets | 82 | 35 | 35 | 12 | 82 | |
| Blackhawks | 82 | 29 | 39 | 14 | 72 | |
| GP | W | L | OL | PTS | ||
| Golden Knights | 82 | 39 | 26 | 17 | 95 | |
| Oilers | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 93 | |
| Ducks | 82 | 43 | 33 | 6 | 92 | |
| Kings | 82 | 35 | 27 | 20 | 90 | |
| Sharks | 82 | 39 | 35 | 8 | 86 | |
| Kraken | 82 | 34 | 37 | 11 | 79 | |
| Flames | 82 | 34 | 39 | 9 | 77 | |
| Canucks | 82 | 25 | 49 | 8 | 58 | |
COMPLETE STANDINGS | ||||||