NHL Awards: Jack Adams Award, Coach of the Year

The NHL Awards Ceremony will be held during the Stanley Cup Finals on the off day between Games 3 & 4. The host team will have the event in their city.

The award we're looking at today is the Jack Adams Award for Best Coach. For this award, we need to examine which coach squeezed the most juice out of his team, what he had to work with, & the strength of his impact on his team.

The top candidates are Darryl Sutter, Gerard Gallant, Jared Bednar, John Hynes, Todd McLellan, Andrew Brunette, & Rod Brind'Amour. These head coaches all deserve their flowers, but only three will be nominees & only one can win the award. Shall we:

3rd Place: Gerard Gallant

Gallant deserves a ton of credit for the turnaround of the New York Rangers. While it seems like Igor Shesterkin is the answer to 99% of their problems, the Rangers have played high quality hockey this year, and they have seen arguably the biggest turnaround in the NHL this season. They allow very few goals by league standards, and after a slow start offensively, Gallant's defense first approach has had a profound effect on this NYR team.

2nd Place: Darryl Sutter

The Calgary Flames have an absolute wagon this year that they didn't have last year. With some great moves from GM Brad Treliving, Sutter has this team firing on all cylinders. There isn't a weakness in their game, and they seem totally bought in to what Sutter is selling. His imprint on this Calgary unit is unmistakable, and he is absolutely in contention for the Jack Adams.

Jack Adams Winner: Jared Bednar

The Avalanche have arguably the best team in hockey, and their coach is a huge reason why. The Avalanche's system benefits their on-ice personnel perfectly. His ability to deploy his players in a way that sets the team up for success is second to none, and he deserves credit. The case against Bednar is that his team is built to be amazing, but without his guidance I really don't know how good this team is.

Runners up: Brunette (FLA), Brind'Amour (CAR), McLellan (LAK)

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