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Lightning Hire Former Stanley Cup Champion as Assistant

The Tampa Bay Lightning add more championship experience behind the bench.

Jon Alfano

St. Louis Blues right wing Dan Hinote before the game against the San Jose Sharks.
St. Louis Blues right wing Dan Hinote before the game against the San Jose Sharks. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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Following three straight first-round exits, the Tampa Bay Lightning want to prove that they can still compete for a championship. Apparently, they believe that adding some more championship pedigree behind the bench is the way to go.

The Lightning announced Friday morning that they've hired former Stanley Cup-winning forward Dan Hinote as an assistant coach under Jon Cooper. He replaces Jeff Blashill, who left last month to become head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks.

A Leesburg, Fla., native, Hinote spent last season as an associate coach with the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. He helped the Eagles achieve a 43-21-5 record, the best in the AHL's Western Conference, and lead the league in goals (250) and goal differential (plus-65). The Eagles lost in five games in a best-of-five series against the Abbotsford Canucks - of course the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks - in the Division Finals (third round).

Hinote previously spent four years as an assistant coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2010-14 before moving into a scouting role with the organization. He also spent four years as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators from 2020-24.

In between those two NHL stints, he joined the United States National Team Development Program for the U17 and U18 teams.

As a player, Hinote appeared in 503 NHL games with the Avalanche and St. Louis Blues. He scored 90 points (38 goals, 52 assists) and won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001, appearing in all 23 postseason games during that run.

Cooper and the Lightning have had no shortage of assistants over his 12-year tenure, and they hope that Hinote can help them get back to the promised land.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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