No Bats in Norfolk? New Ads Coach Can Only Hope

Prior to yesterday’s introducion as the new head coach of the AHL Norfolk Admirals, the only time the casual hockey fan may have heard of Jon Cooper is from his involvement in what became known as “Bat-Gate”, during his tenure as head coach and general manager of the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers.

In case you’d forgotten:

Of the incident, Cooper said it was, “One of the crazier things I’d ever seen in hockey,” and neither the Gamblers’ fans nor their opponents would soon let them forget it.

“For about a month, the (Green Bay) fans threw bats for the first goal,” Cooper said. “And the first time after that game (with the bat), we were at Lincoln and they played the theme to ‘Batman’ when we went on the ice.”

Of course, Cooper preferred his team to be noticed for their actual hockey efforts on ice, rather than their bat-battling exploits but, as he told his club at the time, “If this is what it takes for our team to make SportsCenter, it’s better to get looked at than to get looked over.”

For the Tampa Bay Lightning, the hope is that the new bench boss for their top minor league affiliate will get that club looked at for all the right reasons as well and, bat attacks aside, Cooper’s track record, which includes multiple championships and coach/GM of the year honors at various levels, suggests just that on the horizon in Norfolk.

For more on Jon Cooper joining the Lightning/Admirals organizations and my conversation with him yesterday, please check out today’s piece at Kukla’s Korner.

JJ
jjordan79@tampabay.rr.com
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