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THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Quite the year for Johnson, Cooper and Showcase

| August 7, 2021 1:20 AM

As Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper explained, the last time he visited Coeur d’Alene in June of 2020, he was still searching for that elusive first Stanley Cup championship.

Man, what a year both he and former Coeur d’Alene Laker and Spokane Chief Tyler Johnson had, wouldn’t you say?

THE DUO, in town for the seventh annual Showcase golf exhibition on July 31 at The Coeur d’Alene Resort Golf Course, have since secured not one, but two Stanley Cup titles. In 2020, after the NHL resumed after a break between March 11 and Aug. 1 due to COVID-19, Tampa Bay beat Dallas 4-2 inside a “bubble” at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

“It was tough,” Johnson said. “Being in a bubble is just a hard experience in itself. For us to win, we didn’t have any family and friends there. So we just partied with each other, which was a really cool ending.”

This year, Tampa Bay beat Montreal 4-1, winning on its home ice.

“The most important thing was to be able to bring it home,” Johnson said. “That was a really cool experience. We won it the year before, and couldn’t do anything with it. When you win that Cup, you really want to share that with friends and family. The fact I was able to bring it back, it was just a really cool experience.”

Johnson scored two goals in Game 3, a 6-3 Lightning win to take a 3-0 series lead.

“When you win that first championship, you’ll never forget it,” Cooper said. “And this time, we got to do it with our fans, on our home ice and with our owner in the building. Nothing could top that. The last time I was in Coeur d’Alene last June, I had zero Cups. I came back 13 months later with two. It’s crazy. It’s surreal.”

SINCE 1995, players from the Stanley Cup championship team have had their own private day with the Cup. Some players have let their pets eat out of it, others have eaten cereal out of it.

As for Johnson and Cooper, they gave it a night on the town in Coeur d’Alene.

Johnson, whose day was July 29, took the Cup back to his old rink, the Spokane Arena.

“It was really cool,” Johnson said. “I didn’t know what to expect and how many fans were going to come. I was just blown away by the support. Spokane’s my home and they’ve really supported me through the years. So it was really cool to bring that home to them and see some smiling faces. After that, we stopped by some fire departments and I took it to a place for family and friends. We tried to give it as much exposure as we could.”

The championship for the Lightning was the second pro title in Tampa Bay this year, with the Buccaneers also winning the Super Bowl in February. Both titles resulted in boat parades in the city.

“We were kind of the trend setters last year,” Cooper said. “It was so cool to have the Bucs win the Super Bowl and do it. And we had that chance to do it again this year. It was like 2.0 on steroids from last year. There were so many boats out there this year.”

LAST TUESDAY, Johnson was traded from Tampa Bay to the Chicago Blackhawks. Last Saturday, Johnson was in a group with former NBA guard Ron Harper, who played on championship teams in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

“We talked about Chicago a little bit,” Johnson said of Harper. “He obviously loves that city, and is well loved there. Hopefully he can show me around a little when he’s there.”

Chicago finished 24-25-7 and missed the playoffs. In addition to Johnson, Chicago has added goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

“I think it’s going to be a great spot,” Johnson said. “They’re really talented and have a lot of veteran core pieces. I think our team is going to be really good, and I’m excited to get there and get to work and see what happens.”

The expansion Seattle Kraken are scheduled to host Johnson and Chicago on Nov. 17.

A little closer to home, the Showcase, which had its largest field of celebrity golfers in town with 41 players, raised a total of $6 million for the Community Cancer Fund after an anonymous donor gave $1 million on Wednesday.

Not bad.

Not at all.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for The Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JECdAPress.

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JASON ELLIOTT/Press Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper putts his final shot in on the 18th hole at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course during The Showcase golf exhibition on July 31.