An attackman who eventually transitioned into a midfielder,[4] Cooper scored 74 goals with 25 assists for 99 points and was a member of East Coast Conference championship teams as a junior and senior.

[7] Cooper began his coaching career in 1999–2000 with Lansing Catholic High School and led the team to its first regional hockey championship in 25 years.

In 2003, Cooper returned to the North American Hockey League (NAHL) to coach the expansion Texarkana Bandits.

Cooper was the coach of the United States Hockey League (USHL)'s Green Bay Gamblers starting in 2008.

[10] In 2010, the team won the Clark Cup for the League's championship and Cooper was named USHL Coach of the Year.

In 2010, Cooper was hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning to coach the Norfolk Admirals, the team's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate.

[11] The Admirals also set a North American professional sports record for the longest regular season winning streak at 28 games in a row.

[21] In the 2016 playoffs, Cooper coached the Lightning to another deep playoff run by defeating the Detroit Red Wings in five games in the first round for the second consecutive time and the New York Islanders and then losing in seven games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the conference finals, one win short from back-to-back appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals.

[22][23] On January 7, 2018, Cooper was named as head coach of the Atlantic Division for the 63rd National Hockey League All-Star Game, which was played at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.

[28] On March 18, Cooper coached the Lightning to their first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history with a victory over the visiting Arizona Coyotes at Amalie Arena.

[34] On May 30, 2021, Cooper coached the Lightning to a 2–1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena in his 100th career NHL playoff game.

[35][36] On July 7, Cooper led the reigning champions to the Lightning's third Stanley Cup when they beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games.

[39] Cooper and the Lightning eventually reached a third consecutive Stanley Cup Finals (fourth altogether) and would lose in six games to the Colorado Avalanche.

[43] On August 9, 2021, Cooper was named head coach of Team Canada for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing[44] but ultimately did not participate due to the NHL pulling out of the competition because of the omicron variant in the COVID-19 pandemic.

[45] On June 25, 2024, Cooper was named the head coach of Team Canada for both the 2026 Winter Olympics and the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.

[6] On September 16, 2016, the creation of the annual Coop's Catch for Kids charity fishing tournament was announced in partnership with the V Foundation.

The annual catch-and-release inshore grand slam tournament pairs Lightning celebrities on a guided boat with two participants.