The Jack Adams is a tough trophy to award. Almost always based on team success relative to the prior year, or in the face of injury, it’s an award whose voters rarely have all of the pertinent information. No one can say for sure what is the best coaching method, or how one individual decision affected the results of an entire hockey team.
That said, the league seemed—from the outside at least—to have an excellent field of coaches to choose from this year. Three finalists were named in Gerard Gallant (Vegas), Jared Bednar (Colorado) and Bruce Cassidy (Boston), but other names like John Hynes (New Jersey), Paul Maurice (Winnipeg) and Peter Laviolette (Nashville) all could have found themselves in the race in any other year.
The question is should they have been in the race this year? Should someone else, like Jon Cooper or Peter DeBoer have been considered? What exactly determines the “coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success” in your mind? While Gallant may be the expected winner by many around the league, should he be?
Vote below on not who you think will win, but who you think should win the Jack Adams trophy. Our similar poll for the Calder resulted in different finalists, while our readership picked the same top three for the Norris. Remember this is based on regular season results, not the first round of the playoffs. Explain your choice in the comment section below.
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I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again – Gallant is the hands down winner. No one comes close. What he did with the roster he was given was incredible.
Agreed. Remarkable job. Didn’t have the headstart advantage most employed coaches have, and did it with a set of misfit toys.
Everyone giving props to Gallant when he got hand pick who he wants, if anything it should go to Paul Maurice, the Jets have been remarkable
I bet you mostly every coach gets to hand pick who the want
Given what’s happened in Vegas this year, the NHL should rename the award “The Gerard Gallant Trophy”.