There was a game, just before the All-Star break, when Tampa coach Jon Cooper didn’t like the play Tyler Johnson made.

Cooper expressed his unhappiness when Johnson got to the bench.

“That’s not what happened coach,” Johnson told Cooper. “Show it to me.”

Cooper grabbed an iPad on the bench — there are three league-supplied tablets on each bench for every game — to have a look at the replay. “I’d seen it wrong,” said Cooper. “He was right. I had to swallow my pride.”

The now ubiquitous iPads are used for far more than coaches challenging off-side or goaltender interference. As the NHL goes deeper into analytics, it’s also digging deeper into technology. It’s on the bench, and between periods, where real time replays are providing coachable moments to make in-game adjustments, all the while creating a trove of stats to be analyzed later to look for trends.

“It’s always easier to look at something rather than just talk about it,” Johnson said when he came through Toronto on Monday. “When you can see exactly what happened, you can read from it, and learn from it. It’s easier to have the iPad there where you’re instantly learning compared to waiting for after the game to figure things out.”

The Star was one of a handful of media outlets invited to the Lightning video room during the all-star break for a primer on the use of iPads, with representatives of the league, Apple and the Lightning.

“It’s really helpful,” says Cooper. “It’s a big thing for special teams. Your first unit comes off, and right away, we’re on there. We’ve got five guys crowding (the tablets) around looking at breakouts.”

With the Maple Leafs, Mitch Marner has taken to the technology.

“It’s more for shooting, to see what I could shoot differently, seeing what I had open. Or play-wise, to see a different opening,” says Marner, who used similar technology in junior. “It’s wicked to see your opportunity again. You might get that chance again on your next shift.

“It’s nice technology to have and beneficial to see what you could have done.”

The league supplies the same technology, application and software to the teams. It’s up to the teams how to use it, if at all. If the technology fails on one bench, the access is cut off for both teams for the game.

The video coaches have essentially the same access to what TV producers have, the various cameras around the ice taping the game.

They download the games in real time, marking each play as it happens. Different colour codes label and log goals, shots, faceoffs, passes, zone entries, forechecks, backchecks, hits, takeaways, giveaways, the success of various set plays — quite literally dozens, and well beyond the stats found on NHL.com. Each event is marked again by player and place on the ice and whether it was even strength or special teams.

It’s all streamable in realtime on the bench on the iPads. And between periods, for that matter, in the dressing room on a bigger screen.

The data piles up game by game. Want to see any trends in how Brayden Point is doing on an offensive zone forecheck after losing a draw to a left-handed centre? Go to the tape.

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“If we see a trend where he’s struggling, and ask ourselves if he’s going to continue to take faceoffs against Auston Matthews or not, that instant gratification is amazing,” says video coordinator Brian Garlock. “Is he losing draws because of Matthews, or is he losing draws for random reasons we can’t control? Do we need to make a change or do we not?”

There’s a balance. The instant feedback isn’t for everybody.

“Some players don’t need it,” says Cooper. “Some shouldn’t see it. The second a fragile player sees a play, he’s ruined for the next four shifts.”

OLYMPIC PINING: Leafs coach Mike Babcock made no bones about the fact he’s much rather be coaching Team Canada’s Olympics right about now. “I wish I was there. Jealous,” says Babcock. “I can’t believe it.” Lightning captain Steve Stamkos, who’s yet to play in the Olympics, would also rather go. “It’s been extremely disappointing, to say the least,” says Stamkos. “It’s going to be tough watching knowing some guys — selfishly, myself included — never got a chance to go there. It’s too bad. I think playing at the highest level, and representing your country at the highest level, is one of the most amazing honours you can have in your life. To have that taken away is pretty tough.”

FEELING GOOD: Coming out of retirement, 37-year-old Mike Fisher began practising with the Predators on Monday, the next step in his progression toward rejoining the active roster. “It felt a little weird at first to be back out there,” Fisher told the Tennessean. “Everything comes back quick as far as drills and fitting in, all that stuff. But I’ve still got to keep skating and make sure I get in good shape. I actually feel better than I thought I would at this point.”

ROCK BOTTOM: The question is being asked in Chicago whether the Blackhawks have hit rock bottom now that they’ve lost six in a row, thanks to a 6-1 loss to Arizona in which the home-team Hawks were booed upon their exit at the United Centre. It’s their longest regular-season skid since a nine-gamer in 2011-12. ‘‘It’s been a tough little while here,’’ Patrick Kane told the Chicago Sun-Times. ‘‘We’re just trying to find something to build off of, and we just can’t do it right now. So it’s been frustrating.”

IN THE HUNT: Funny thing happened when New York Rangers management published a missive to fans that essentially raised the white flag on this season and told them to expect trades and a roster rebuild. The Rangers won back-to-back games to remain very much in the playoff hunt. “I think guys are maybe even more dialled in,” defenceman Brady Skjei told the New York Post. “I think guys are really focused right now and really stepping up their games. It’s been fun to watch and really fun playing.”

WILD RIDE: The Minnesota Wild are 4-1-1 in their last six, hanging on to the final wild-card spot in the tight Western Conference standings heading into Tuesday night’s games. Two teams -- Anaheim and L.A. -- were one point behind the Wild. “It’s definitely going to be tight, I don’t think anyone doubts that,” defenceman Jared Spurgeon told the team’s web site. “The last little bit here, we as a group feel, we are improving as a team and getting closer to where we want to be.”

STATS AND FACTS: The Maple Leafs and Rangers are the only two NHL teams with eight players who have recorded 11 or more goals this season. ... Rangers F Michael Grabner has seven empty net goals this season, the third highest total for one season in NHL history. .. . Sidney Crosby is the 20th player in league history to record at least 400 goals and 600 assists for the same franchise.

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