Jon Cooper, coach of Canada’s Winter Olympics hockey team, is grieving the loss of his father following the team’s recent narrow miss for gold at the Milan-Cortina Games.

In addition to his Olympic role, Cooper is the head coach of the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning. He will be absent from the bench for the next two games due to the family bereavement.

The team’s media relations manager, Benjamin Pierce, shared the unfortunate news on X on Wednesday, expressing condolences with the message, “Thoughts go out to Coop and his family.”

Details surrounding the passing of Cooper’s father, including the timing and circumstances, have not been disclosed, leaving it uncertain whether Cooper had the opportunity to see his father upon returning from Italy.

Cooper is Longest-Tenured Head Coach in NHL

As reported by the Toronto Sun, Cooper’s father, known as Robert or Bob to friends, was a longtime construction business owner in Prince George, British Columbia.

Just last Sunday, Cooper was on the brink of securing a gold medal for Canada in a thrilling men’s hockey final against the USA, which ended in an overtime loss.

The 58-year-old is the longest-tenured head coach in the National Hockey League, having coached the Lightning since 2013.

He has won two Stanley Cups, in 2020 and 2021, and took charge of Team Canada in June 2024 ahead of the 4 Nations Face-Off.

Cooper is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, but was born and raised north of the border in Prince George and Wilcox, Saskatchewan.

Canada Claims Silver Medal

In this year’s Olympics, Cooper guided Canada to huge wins over Czechia (5-0), Switzerland (5-1) and France (10-2) in the preliminary round, before a thrilling overtime win the quarterfinal against Czechia.

In the semifinal, the Canadians beat Finland 3-2 to set up a gold medal showdown with the USA, which 26 million people tuned in to watch in the US alone.

Canada came out on the wrong side of the OT result, claiming the silver medal at the Games, while the gold medal Americans have spent the last 48 hours partying in Miami, meeting Trump in the Oval Office, and attending the State of the Union address.

Cooper to Miss First Game Back

Attention is now turning to the return of the NHL tonight, but Cooper will be absent from his team’s first game back against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

On Thursday, the Lightning travel to face the Carolina Hurricanes, the second of the two games Cooper is expected to miss.

As it stands, the head coach is expected to return to the bench on Saturday when Tampa Bay hosts the Buffalo Sabres.

The Lightning have enjoyed a strong start to the 2025-26 season with a 37-14-4 record, good enough for first place in the Atlantic Division. 

Canada hockey star goes viral for reaction to stuffed toy after USA loss

Moments after suffering Winter Olympics heartbreak, Canada hockey star Nathan Mackinnon went viral for a bizarre incident during the medal ceremony.

Jack Hughes scored the winning golden goal a minute and 41 seconds into overtime in the gold medal game in Milan, sending USA into pandemonium at the expense of their great rivals Canada.

Moments later, the Canadian team were lining up to receive their silver medals while also being handed a replica miniaturized version of the Olympic mascot, a white stoat named Tina.

Mackinnon looked deeply unimpressed at having to hold a soft toy in what was a difficult moment so soon after such an agonizing loss.

Television viewers noticed him staring back at the toy and momentarily shaking his head in disgust before staring coldly into the distance.

‘Nathan MacKinnon not impressed with the silver and the plushie,’ one fan wrote, while sharing the short clip on social media.

Another said: ‘Nothing on earth is more in immediate danger than the stuffed animal they handed Nathan Mackinnon.’

A different fan posted: ‘Nathan MacKinnon might murder this stuffed animal.’

The stuffed animals are not a new tradition. Typically medal winners receive some miniaturized version of that year’s Olympic mascot, and the practice inevitably leads to awkward moments like with MacKinnon.

The USA team also received a similar memento – it’ll likely be one they treasure a lot more than MacKinnon.