Andrei Vasilevskiy is fed up with Jon Cooper’s excuses

Marc-Olivier Cook
Andrei Vasilevskiy is fed up with Jon Cooper’s excuses
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

After the Lightning's loss in Game 7, Jon Cooper once again brought up the old story about the hockey gods.

He explained that the hockey gods were on the Canadiens' side, which explains why the Habs were able to win even though they finished the game with a mere nine shots on goal.

But…

But that excuse is starting to get a little stale.

And this time, his number one goalie clearly didn't buy into the talk either. Andrei Vasilevskiy was blunt: it's starting to sound like a recycled excuse.

Three years, same old story. And Vasilevskiy says that during that time, teams like the Hurricanes have continued to move forward with consistency, structure… and no room for easy justifications like Cooper's.

The message is subtle, but it packs a punch: at some point, you have to stop blaming “fate” and look at what isn't working internally. And hearing Vasilevskiy speak like that to reporters speaks volumes.

And what's even more telling about all this?

Even Nikita Kucherov decided not to get caught up in self-congratulation. He, too, chose a different path… by praising the Montreal Canadiens and saying they deserved credit.

You read that right.

Clearly, in the Lightning locker room, some are starting to get tired of the excuses…

It's interesting to see the Lightning's star players acknowledge that there are reasons behind their team's elimination. And it's even more interesting to see that they don't necessarily share the same view as their own coach…

Is Jon Cooper losing his job?

I don't know, but it really looks like things are starting to get gloomy in Tampa Bay right now. And that's even though the weather is still nice (or almost) under the warm Florida sun…


In a nutshell

– Heads up:

– Read this.

– Good news!

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