/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn-tor.buminteractif.com%2F2026%2F04%2Fa1f19ea1-0fb7-478d-a02d-088f8b4cdffe.jpg)
As spring finally settles in, the Montreal Canadiens are thrilling the people of Quebec. Do you know who else used to thrill Quebecers when spring arrived? The Montreal Expos.
When the Canadiens were having a rough winter, sports fans could console themselves by thinking that the Expos' season would soon begin. If the Habs were having a great winter—much like they did this year—those same fans would tell themselves that it was going to be quite a spring with the start of the season for “Nos Amours” and the Tricolore having a chance to bring another cup back to Montreal.
As you know, spring rhymes with hope, and there was a time when hope was in no short supply in Montreal in the spring. Times change—that's just how it is…
One person who remembers those happy days is none other than the number 3 enemy in La Belle Province right now. We're talking about Jon Cooper, head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Number 3, yes, because the top two are undoubtedly Nikita Kucherov and Brandon Hagel—in order or out of order, depending on your perspective. Getting back to Cooper, he had nothing but good things to say about the former baseball team that existed from 1969 to 2004.
“Definitely miss the [Expos], the mascot, the logo, everything about them.”
Jon Cooper joins @sportsnetkyle ahead of Game 4. pic.twitter.com/yo2raWd3rI
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 26, 2026
Fond memories of baseball in Canada
The man at the helm of the Lightning was born in 1967 in the province of British Columbia. He also lived in Saskatchewan to play hockey there. As a sports-loving Canadian, he holds fond memories of the exploits of the Blue Jays and the Expos, the two teams north of the 49th parallel.
Like the kids of his generation, Jon Cooper had to play hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer. Ask the men of his age in your circle of friends. They'll tell you that, as kids, their idols were Guy Lafleur and Gary Carter! That might have been the case for the subject of this article—who knows?
In short, when answering the reporter's question, the lawyer-by-training had stars in his eyes as he explained just how much he misses the team, the logo, the mascot, and everything associated with it. It's heartfelt. At least he had the chance to attend an Expos game at Olympic Stadium, unlike most readers of this blog, who were too young to do so, alas.
Like many of us, he has a bitter memory of the 1994 strike. Damn strike! It's truly heartbreaking, when you stop to think about it, to constantly associate a defunct club with a labor dispute.
At least, if it's any consolation, Cooper can see the Expos mascot every time his team faces the Canadiens! After all, it's just wearing a different jersey and cap.
Created by humans, assisted by AI.
