Tampa Bay Lightning
TAMPA — Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper can’t and won’t speak for his boss, general manager Steve Yzerman, who was all but forced to trade former team captain Marty St. Louis to the New York Rangers last year.
Nor will Cooper speak for that segment of the Tampa Bay fan base that might never forget how St. Louis demanded that trade just when a young, playoff-bound Lightning team seemed to need him most.
Cooper can speak only for himself and the players in his locker room, and as far as he can tell, no one there holds a grudge against the most popular and decorated player in Lightning history.