Who deserves the Jack Adams?
Here's a question that's always good for sparking a debate: Who's been the best coach in the NHL this season?
I'm going to keep my answer under wraps here for a bit and see what others think, but I will say that I think the Jack Adams should be an award that doesn't just go to the person who "does the most with the least," as it often seems to. It's a shame coaches of the very best teams don't often get enough credit.
This poll offers the top 10 coaches this season, ranked by points percentage, with the option to add anyone else you please in the 'other' field:
And feel free to offer your reasoning in the comments.
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by James Mirtle @ 1:45 AM
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26 comments
26 Comments:
I had to go with Bruce Boudreau for the simple reason that he did the most with the least.
i went with boudreau for the turn around he has caused and the impact he has had on ovechkin's career.
also being a sens fan could you remove john paddock from the vote? he is single handeling ruining a system and team which bryan murray has engraved. paddock is doing more to help a losing cause
ex: if you were to seperate spezza-heatley alfie, how would you make the lines?
if you said
alfie-fisher-heatley
robitaille-spezza-schubert
then you are right, thats right one of the best passers inthe league being put on a line with defensemen christoph schubert
I voted for Carbo in Montreal. I expected the Habs to be well out of the playoffs this year and they look like they could be the number 1 team in the East. He gets my vote for coaching the team that most defied my expectations.
Boudreau is a good contender too but I figured Washington was a playoff team this summer.
I think it's too soon to go with Boudreau. I do like what he's done but one guy that I think really deserves s lot of credit is Trotz in Nashville. The Predators seem to win no matter who is in the line up.
What about Gretzky? The Coyotes were almost universally considered the basement team this year.
How does Claude Julien get left off this list? He came into an abyssmal situation in Boston, and set up a strong defensive system without their $4m free agent goalie, and a number of starters (Bergeron, Alberts, Murray) injured for a good number of games. At least Boudreau can play OV8 for 25 minutes a game.
Barry Trotz at least deserves to be on the list... Top 10 by winning percentage is perhaps a bit too restrictive.
Not sure why, but I clicked Therrien... I guess because of their play since Crosby's injury. But Malkin probably deserves most of the credit for that.
After reading the comments, Boudreau's turnaround makes him more the choice, but I think I dinged him for not being there the whole season.
okay, who voted for paddock? is there a 1% margin of error? he is quite probably the worst coach to set foot in the nhl for quite some time. any other coach could do more with the senators.
I know we're kinda homers on this, but i agree with Forechecker - Gretzky and Trotz should both be on this list, as they have both done far more with their teams than was expected. Whether they win or not is an argument that could be made, but for coaches to do more with less should put them in the running. Multiply that by a factor of 10 if either team wins a round in the playoffs.
On the other hand, other coaches like...maybe Ron Wilson (who is certainly a capable coach) should probably not be on this list, as his team has been a dissapointment and under-achieved so far this year from what was expected. (though perhaps those expectations were too high...)
Ted Nolan, does anyone do more with less?
Got to be Ken Hitchcock. Took an organization with a culture of losing and battled through injuries to Modin and Fedorov to keep the Blue Jackets within striking distance of the playoffs.
agree with the commenat about ted nolan...
boudreau is a joke. washington still stinks and are only in playoff contention because they play in the worst division in hockey.
Ron Wilson is listed instead of Julien, Gretzky or Trotz?!?!? Are you sure you work in the hockey biz?
I agree that Ted Nolan gets more out of the Islanders than they would normally achieve...but they aren't devoid of talent, and in the less-deep-than-the-west Eastern conference they are still 10th right now...
Not sure that's doing "enough" with how little he has.
By this same logic that's why i said that Gretzky and Trotz should be on this list, but probably just be finalists, barely ahead of Nolan.
Again, I said it above, but the list is the top 10 teams' coaches by points percentage. And if you want a Gretzky or someone else whose team is going to miss the playoffs, by all means fill in the name under 'other.'
It's got to be Therrien. Boudreau's team isn't even in the playoffs as it stands now. The pens have had ridiculous injury problems losing their number one goalie and their number one center (the best player in the world) yet still they are contending for the top seed in the eastern conference! Boudreau has his team mired in mediocrity. They probably won't even be able to win the vaunted Southeast Division crown.
Hmm, that's strange. Joel Quenneville's nowhere on the list of possible candidates. You'd think he would be, since just a couple of weeks ago Burnside and others were saying he totally deserved it because his star players were hurt.
Well, his star players aren't hurt anymore and his team still gave up a two-goal lead and lost to the Oilers last night. So much for coach of the year.
Tippet in Dallas gets my vote, by the way.
Brent Sutter in Jersey. Best team in the East so far this season, not exactly a roster full of stars (although does have one kick-ass goalie). Great job in his first season.
"Give it to Crosby/Malkin/OV/Alfy/Kovy/et al"
is not coaching.
Turning lunch buckets into a team is coaching.
Julien by a mile.
I would make a mild argument for the way Lindy Ruff has perfectly handled his team in a season that was full of transition for pretty much every player but I'm being a total homer there so I voted for Brent Sutter.
i also voted for Sutter. Being a Pens fan, i see them 8 times a year and while the Devils still have Brodeur and guys like Parise and Zajac have really stepped up, Sutter completely changed the philosophy of the team. They quit the trap-for the most part- they attack the zone(!) and are playing great hockey whereas i dont think too many people expected this good of a season from them.
Damn him!
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How in the world is Claude Julien not even on the list? Boston was pegged by most to finish 14th-15th in the first place, and has lost several big players for big portions of the season...
Claude Julien. He came to Boston with everybody's expectations that the Bruins would finish dead last. He proved them all wrong by making the playoffs and giving MTL a run for their money. This season was a huge building block for future greatness among the young players Julien has made shine this past season.
ok... are you guys serious... not even one comment of John Stevens. you turn around from last in the league with 56 points thats right 56 to being contending for first in the league 3/4 of the way through. Granted a 10 game losing streak followed but they are currently up 2-1 against montreal.. compare them to the caps, ya maybe they only last 1 or 2 games in the last 13 or something but lok at there division. flyers lost 2 or 3 in the last 11 or so, and look at there division. flyers get 6th with 95 points a 39 point aincrease, caps get 3rd with 94....bullshit rule that puts them in third when they deserve 8th
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