From Public Defender To Stanley Cup Champion
The Lead
Wondery
3.9 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 March 2021
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper won his first hockey championship more than two decades ago, and far from the spotlight of the NHL. At the time, he was an underpaid, 32-year-old public defender and first-year head coach with the Lansing Catholic High School Cougars -- a position that the former college lacrosse player was arguably not even qualified for at the time. The Athletic's Joe Smith tracked down players from that high school team, and the judge who recruited Cooper to coach them, and he joins us to discuss Cooper's journey from the courtroom to the local ice arena to the NHL.
Read Joe Smith's story about Jon Cooper's remarkable journey:
https://theathletic.com/2435916/2021/03/10/jon-coopers-first-title-hint-it-wasnt-the-lightnings-stanley-cup/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, prime members, you can listen to the lead ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. |
| 0:07.0 | Hi there, Wondry listeners. Hannah and Sruti here from TrueCram Podcast Redhanded. |
| 0:11.0 | Your favourite podcast Redhanded. We just wanted to say how excited we are to be included in Amazon Music |
| 0:16.0 | and Wondry's best podcasts of the year as chosen by their listeners, which is you. |
| 0:21.0 | So thank you so much to everyone who listened to us voted for us, all the things you do for us. |
| 0:26.0 | Any of you out there who haven't checked out Redhanded, what are you doing? What are you waiting for? |
| 0:31.0 | It's a weekly show where we deep dive into the most talked about cases like the Delphi murders |
| 0:35.0 | and also those you might never have heard of like the Nathari child sacrifices in Delhi. |
| 0:40.0 | Go listen to Redhanded right now on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:46.0 | As the seconds run off the clock of the 3810th it's rise to their feet of celebrating |
| 0:59.0 | 42 victory for John Cooper and the Lightning. |
| 1:05.0 | For the past eight years, the man guiding the Tampa Bay Lightning to win after win |
| 1:10.0 | and to last year Stanley Cup has been head coach John Cooper. |
| 1:13.0 | I love you boys, thank you. |
| 1:16.0 | And while hockey fans are used to seeing Cooper rack up the victories, the fact is he has come a long way |
| 1:21.0 | from his first life as an underpaid public defender and part-time high school hockey coach in Michigan. |
| 1:28.0 | The athletics Joe Smith recently tracked down a bunch of people from Cooper's past. |
| 1:32.0 | He joins us today to talk about Cooper's time as a lawyer and coach |
| 1:36.0 | and how the approaches he used to people back then are the same ones he uses today. |
| 1:41.0 | I've kind of carried the philosophy with me all the way through the NHL and to be honest |
| 1:46.0 | it doesn't really change when beings are human beings and everybody needs to be more motivated. |
| 1:53.0 | From Wondery and the Athletic, I'm Anders Keltow. |
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