Jon Cooper confirms huge loss for Lightning just before playoffs.
Jon Cooper sounds like he doesn't expect him to make it back for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
This is a tough blow for the Tampa Bay Lightning and, judging by the comments made by head coach Jon Cooper, it may be one that there is no hope of recovering from in time.
On Sunday, Cooper spoke to reporters and fielded a number of questions about his team, but his mood took a sudden shift when he was asked about the status of trade deadline acquisition Oliver Bjorkstrand. Although Cooper did not go into great detail, the shift in his tone and the words that he used made it sound like Bjorkstrand's season may already be over.
"Bjorkstrand is gonna be... probably week to week," said Cooper.
Cooper was complimentary of how Bjorkstrand has adapted to the Lightning's style of play, but expressed some doubts about whether or not Bjorkstrand could even return during the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"It's tough," admitted a suddenly somber sounding Cooper. "He's really grown into his role with us... hopefully we can have him back for the playoffs at some point."
That is not the kind of comment you want to hear from your head coach regarding an injured player, especially not when the Stanley Cup playoffs are just around the corner. Despite only appearing in 18 games for the Lightning, Bjorkstrand was indeed fitting in well with 5 goals and 4 assists for a total of 9 points over that stretch of play. Bjorkstrand was acquired to fill a need for the Lightning ahead of the playoffs and unfortunately with the trade deadline now long behind us, there will be no effective way for the Lightning to replace him heading into the playoffs.
You can hear Cooper discuss the injury and a number of other topics in the short video below:
