Jon Cooper knew who was coming to the bench for the in-game interview during the Tampa Bay Lightning‘s visit to Buffalo on Wednesday, and he had a trainer make an arrangement in advance.
A step stool, set down behind the bench, for Darren Pang to stand on.
“Jon Cooper asked a trainer for a step stool for Darren Pang to stand on while he was interviewed behind the bench,” wrote Gino Hard, which posted the clip.
Cooper explained himself once Pang was up on it.
“I’m sick of doing interviews and looking at the top of your head,” Cooper told him.
Pang took it in good spirit.
“This is great. Coop, I appreciate that. I’ve never felt so tall,” Pang said. “I appreciate you thought of that beforehand.”
Wednesday night in Buffalo:
| Final score | Carlson’s points | Kucherov’s goals | Guentzel’s assists |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8-3 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
How tall is Darren Pang?
Across 81 games in goal for Chicago he was among the smallest men ever to do the job in the NHL, listed at five-foot-five, and that has been the engine of a long-running bit between these two.
The stool wasn’t the first installment. In October 2022, Pang had to physically climb across the Lightning bench in Anaheim to get within range of Cooper for a TNT interview, and the broadcast booth scored the balance beam routine a ten.
They have also had the reverse. During the 2022 playoffs Pang asked Cooper, after the coach had been dismissive about Toronto, whether that meant Pang himself could play in goal. Cooper answered by saying nothing at all and staring at him until Pang gave up and ended the interview.
The affection runs both ways. Pang was the one who presented Cooper with the Mr. TNT trophy in 2024, an award voted on by the broadcast crew for the coach or player who brings the most personality to their coverage, ambushing him during what he thought was a routine pregame hit.
“I’m speechless and that doesn’t happen too often,” Cooper said that day.
Cooper could afford to be in a mood on Wednesday. Tampa Bay won 8-3, with John Carlson putting up five points, Nikita Kucherov scoring three times and Jake Guentzel adding four assists.
The Lightning are in Columbus on Thursday, where the bench interview will be watched a little more closely than usual.
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