Don Cherry rips Jon Cooper for Stamkos usage

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper talks about losing the Cup and the bright future of his young squad.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are just hours removed from their Stanley Cup loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, but that didn’t stop Don Cherry from going on a Twitter rant Tuesday.

The host of Coach’s Corner used 13 tweets to vent about the misuse of Steven Stamkos throughout the post-season by Lightning head coach Jon Cooper.

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Cherry, a former NHL head coach with the Boston Bruins and the now-defunct Colorado Rockies, was displeased with Cooper’s usage of Stamkos in multiple situations during the Stanley Cup Final.

Stamkos did not register a goal in the six-game series with Chicago, only finishing with one assist. In 26 post-season games this season, Stamkos accumulated seven goals and 11 assists with a plus-2 rating.

Cherry offered a warning to the Lightning, saying that if they don’t figure out how to better utilize their best player, he will strongly consider leaving as a free agent when his contract expires after the 2016 season.

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