The Tampa Bay Lightning became the epicenter of controversy earlier this week. Following the team’s series loss to the Florida Panthers, head coach Jon Cooper made comments that weren’t received all too well.
On Wednesday, Cooper addressed the media to apologize for those insensitive comments.
Jon Cooper opens his presser addressing the “girls in skirts” comment from Monday night.
He says this has been harder than the loss. #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/uilXVpnIeE
— Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) May 1, 2024
“As you know, we had a pretty disappointing series loss the other night. and I made an inappropriate analogy about goalies in skirts. That is one of those moments, if you could just reach back and grab the words back, I would have,” Cooper admitted.
“As a father of two and a massive supporter of women’s hockey and girls who play sports, quite frankly, it was wrong. I got to go explain myself to my girls. Anyway, I sincerely apologize to all I offended. It has pained me more than the actual series loss itself.”
Following the series loss to the Panthers, Cooper criticized how two disallowed goals were handled. He was quoted as saying, “Net-front battles aren’t allowed anymore? That’s part of everybody’s game. The boxing-out that goes there, it’s like prison rules in the playoffs, bu tit’s not prison rules for the goalie? The second something happens.
“We might as well put skirts on them then if that’s how it’s gonna be,” he said.
In fairness to Cooper, we’ll give him the nod in this apology. This wasn’t one of those apologies where the person says, “if I offended you,” or tried to play it off differently. Cooper certainly owned it and made sure to leave little doubt on that. Some could stand to take note.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022