Jon Cooper blasts dangerous penalty box mistake

And honestly, he had every reason to be furious.

The video shows Holmberg getting hit, falling toward the boards, and then crashing into an open penalty box door after the employee opened it at the wrong moment.

That is not some harmless little rink mix-up.

That is the kind of mistake that can put a player in real danger fast, especially when the body is already off balance and heading hard toward the wall.

Cooper's reaction made that clear right away.

He said he did not know who was working the penalty box over there, but questioned whether that person should keep the job after what happened. He also made the bigger point that it could have hurt anyone on either team.

That is the part nobody can ignore.

Coaches complain about officiating all the time. Players bark about non-calls, icings, and faceoffs all game long. This was different.

This was about basic rink safety.

A player expects traffic, contact, and chaos during a shift. He should not have to worry about a penalty box door swinging open into his path while he is going down.

That is where the whole thing gets ugly.

Holmberg was already vulnerable on the play, and once that door opened, he had no chance to protect himself the way he normally would along the boards.

It also explains why Cooper went so strong with it.

He was not trying to win a headline for the sake of it. He was calling out something dangerous that easily could have ended much worse than it did.

And those scenes stick with people.

Players notice them. Coaches remember them. Fans see them and immediately understand that this was not normal game action or bad luck. It was a preventable mistake.

That is why this story matters.

Not because of the outrage alone, but because everyone in the building has to get those details right. The game is already fast enough and dangerous enough without avoidable hazards being added on top.

Cooper saw that instantly.

And after watching Holmberg go shoulder-first or head-first into that opening, plenty of people around the game probably felt exactly the same way.