The Sports Club of Tampa Bay held its annual Hall of Fame Ceremony on Wednesday night. Among the new inductees was Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper and radio play-by-play broadcaster Dave Mishkin.
“What's special about Tampa? This is what's special," said Cooper. "This is what it is. It’s all of you. For me and my family, this is all I’ve ever known. This is all my kids have ever known.”
Cooper was hired by the Lightning in March 2013 and changed the trajectory of the organization. He is the longest-tenured coach in the NHL and has led the Lightning to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, and four Eastern Conference championships in 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
"Contrary to rumors and whatever is going on out there, I'm never leaving you guys."
The full list Hall of Fame Inductees Include:
- Dick Vitale, ESPN Analyst
- Dominick Ciao, Coach
- Dave Mishkin, Sports Broadcaster
- Rob Higgins, Tampa Bay Sports Commission Executive Director
- Jon Cooper, Coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning
- Terry Rupp, Coach
- Evan Longoria, Rays Player
The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to former Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach and NFL Hall of Famer, Tony Dungy.
Lightning's Nikita Kucherov wins Ted Lindsay Award, voted on by his peers
For the second time in his career, Nikita Kucherov has won the Ted Lindsay Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding player in the NHL and voted on by members of the NHL Players’ Association. He was followed by Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.
Kucherov became the fourth player in NHL history to record three consecutive 80-assist seasons. He had a league-leading 121 points in the 2024-25 regular season to secure his third Art Ross Trophy.
“What Nikita Kucherov does in the NHL, he makes it look really easy,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said at the end of the season. “The level of difficulty is incredibly high, that’s why no one else plays like him. That's why no one else produces like he does.”
Kucherov, who is also a finalist for the Hart Trophy which will be awarded on June 12, led the league in points per game (1.55), primary assists (56), power-play points (46), power-play assists (38) and finished third in even-strength points (75).
