The Lightning are winning. They made the Stanley Cup Finals, but we live in such a stupid world that because their supposed best player isn't getting the most ice time, we have to imagine that he's going to respond like a little baby and run away from the team.Not because he might actually do that, but because a best-player-hates-coach narrative is good for the media.Stamkos has been moved to RW, he's not killing penalties, he's not getting the most ice-time, he had to serve a too-many-men penalty and wasn't called on to be the extra attacker in game one.OH MY GOD, STEVE STAMKOS DID NOT LEAD HIS TEAM IN ICE TIME IN GAME ONE AND HE'S A UFA NEXT SEASON - QUICK, HOW FAST CAN WE MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING?Before we lose our damned minds with stupidity, let us consider how easy it is to get injured in a game of hockey, how the teams still playing are in and around their 115th games of the year (if you consider preseason), that they've been playing intense games every other night for almost two months now, and that teams don't exactly release injury information in October, let alone June.We could also consider that besides injury, there could be other reasons Cooper is making these decisions. It's not like his decisions are costing the team, so maybe he knows something we don't?What is more likely? Jon Cooper has completely lost his mind? OR, that the NHL coach on the verge of being immortalized with a Cup victory is more qualified and has more information with which to make decisions regarding ice-time than a couple of reporters watching on T.V?No, no, no. It's much more convenient to suggest that the coach is crazy and he's moved Stamkos to RW, decreased his ice-time and made some decisions that might seen odd to outsiders like us who don't have all the information because he's gone crazy, likes his old AHL players better and hopes to run Stamkos out of town.Sure, that is way more logical than Cooper having a reason for doing what he's doing.Give me a break here - if Stamkos was the kind of guy who'd sulk over being switched to RW or getting less ice-time, then it's unlikely he would have grown up to be Steve Stamkos in the first place.There is more to becoming one of the best in the world at what you do than just talent.If there wasn't, Patrick Stefan and Alexandre Daigle wouldn't be synonymous with the word "bust" - because those guys had talent, it was whatever else it takes to make it besides talent that they didn't have.And if Stamkos was going to quit on his team because his coach made some curious decisions (which, they seem to be working, so who gives an expletive deleted? ) then he never would have become one of the NHL's best players.I mean, is the bar for professional athletes so low that even though they make the Stanley Cup Finals (and a list of all-time greats who never made it is huge) they are going to supposedly look for a new team because the coach put him in the penalty box to serve a too-many-men penalty? Or because he wasn't called upon to skate with the extra attacker?Is it impossible that a coach capable of not only making the NHL, but also thriving in it could have a perfectly logical strategic purpose for making these decisions?Stamkos is 8th on the Lightning in possession these Playoffs, and he's 4th in goals and points at regular strength. He doesn't seem to be getting significantly harder minutes than his team's other best players, and he is tied for the lead in team points on the PP.What this means: It suggest that Jon Cooper - who is an NHL coach, and a successful one - is basing his decisions on reality, and that the media, who can't move beyond the idea that Stamkos is automatically the Lightning's best player, are basing their analysis on reputation.We really have to realize thatCooper has information none of us do andthe margins for error are so small in the NHL that you have to make adjustments based on reality. It doesn't matter if Stamkos is your best player on paper, if you want to win, you need to be realistic.Being realistic in this case means that Stamkos isn't the Lightning's best player. It means making adjustments.And frankly, the idea Stamkos is going to quit on the team and refuse to re-sign, even though he's the captain of a team so deep it's poised to be competitive for years to come, is preposterous.The media is allowed and encouraged to question coaches. They aren't infallible. But all I see in this story line is cheap, easy answers/narratives designed to make a big deal out of nothing.Cooper is doing well. Maybe we should trust that he isn't going to make decisions regarding player usage on whims. Maybe he knows what he's doing.That's it.Thanks for reading.