Prince George’s, Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightening beat the Dallas Stars last night by a 2-0 win in game 6 of the playoffs at Rodgers Place in Edmonton.

Coach Jon Cooper was asked by Sportsnet what got him to the Stanley Cup today. Cooper said, “I grew up, being influenced by the people around him from Prince George, to Wilcox, to Michigan and all the stops in between. I can’t thank them enough. They made me who I am.”

But, when asked what made the team ready to win, Cooper said, “a heartbreak. Sometimes in failure you find success. It doesn’t come easy,” he continued, “I truly believe it was the heartbreak we suffered that got us here today.”

(@princegeorgematters / Twitter)

Nine of the players on the Lightenings roster have suffered though the same heartbreak over the past five years. In the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Lightening lost to Chicago Blackhawks in game 6 of the first round. The following year they lost to the Pittsburg Penguins in game 7. In 2017 the Lightening did not even make the playoffs and in 2018 they were eliminated on game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals by the Washington Capitals.

But last year was the real heartbreak. Tampa had a all-time record regular season with the most wins at 62 and 128 points. Tampa was feeling pretty confident in themselves and that may have gotten to their head while their competition, Columbus Blue Jacket’s, had to fight to even make it into the playoffs.

Jon Cooper said this season was a blessing and a curse, “You don’t play meaningful hockey for a long time. Then all of a sudden you have to ramp it up. It’s not an excuse, it’s reality,” he continued, “ You have a historic regular season, and we had a historic playoff.”

Playoffs is different hockey. Anything from regular season, really can be thrown out the window as everyone has upped their game and who wants it more.

But last night, Tampa Bay Lightening became Stanley Cup Champions.

(@TBLightening / Twitter)