The Jack Adams nominees come in

by James Mirtle on May 1, 2009 11:33 AM CDT Comment 15 comments

Todd McLellan of the San Jose Sharks, Claude Julien of the Boston Bruins and Andy Murray of the St. Louis Blues are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year.

For whatever reason, this is always such a controversial award, but I'm not surprised at all at the nominees this time around. My pick to win would be Julien, but I wouldn't throw a fit if McLellan or Murray takes it.

Others who perhaps deserved the nomination include Mike Babcock, Ken Hitchcock and Brent Sutter. You could also make a case for someone like Joel Quenneville or even the late arrivals in Pittsburgh and Carolina.

Poll

Who was the NHL's top coach this season?

Claude Julien, Boston

131 votes

Ken Hitchcock, Columbus

51 votes

Mike Babcock, Detroit

25 votes

Brent Sutter, New Jersey

27 votes

Todd McLellan, San Jose

22 votes

Andy Murray, St. Louis

118 votes

Other choice (name in comments)

43 votes

417 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

This is one of the only awards I think is silly to vote on before the playoffs. Given the Shark’s playoff performance, I just could never consciously give it to McLellan, despite their regular season turnaround.

I think the problem is that if you were to vote on it after the playoffs, the coach of the team that won the cup would usually just get it.

by hallock on May 1, 2009 11:38 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The awards are for regular season performance. Why make the coaching award different when all of the player awards are done the same way? You could make the same arguement for those players who’s playoff performance doesn’t live up to their nomination.

And what about those coaches who are nominated but don’t have a playoff team (yeah, it probably hardly happens, but it could).

by Forsch31 on May 1, 2009 11:51 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with the sentiments you first stated, but for the second I would argue that is what the Conn Smythe is for. I admit my reasoning isn’t fully developed, I just think it’s strange when a coach like could McLellan win, despite completely tanking the playoffs.

by hallock on May 1, 2009 12:55 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Joel Quinneville. Biased because, well, I’m a hawks fan… but he really did coach the kids to a whole new level.

by wlittle on May 1, 2009 11:58 AM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Who did you vote for, James?

-Kevin Forbes
Hockey's Future

by kforbes on May 1, 2009 12:16 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

The broadcasters vote for the Jack Adams. I would have taken Julien.

Blogging on hockey at fromtherink.com

by James Mirtle on May 1, 2009 12:19 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’m not gonna venture any opinion. To me, this award is impossible to judge. It’s impossible to know how much of a team’s performance is based on the coaching and how much is the team unless you’re actually a part of that team’s locker room.

In baseball and football, there’s a lot more to go on (handling the bullpen, lefty-righty platooning, play calling, etc…). In hockey, there’s little to go on for an outsider (unless you want to take 2 months out of your life and study each coach’s line matching, and even then, you’d only have a fraction of the full story).

That’s why the voters rely on safe heuristics like “coach of a team who did better than expected at the start of the season”, which is not necessarily the coach’s doing.

by Costa24 on May 1, 2009 12:25 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Julien

If only because it’s hilarious to see another coach have success after being run out of Montreal because he couldn’t get a mediocre-at-best team to perform miracles.

Pension Plan Puppets: A Toronto Maple Leafs blog and a group therapy session.

by PPP on May 1, 2009 1:11 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m still bitterly waiting for the SCF meeting of Julien vs Vigneault (unlikely though possible)… with Julien’s Jack Adams right in the wings. Wouldn’t that be swell?

by Habs on May 2, 2009 10:42 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hitchcock, imo

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by IAmJoe on May 1, 2009 2:27 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Homer vote for Bylsma!

by matskralc on May 1, 2009 3:28 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Murray, of course, is my choice...

but I think Hitchcock did a good job as well. Only a few people had the Jackets making the playoffs. Nobody forsaw the Blues resurgence. Still, to be perfectly honest, I don’t know if having your team surprise the most people is the best way to determine this award winner.

by tbell61 on May 1, 2009 3:40 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I would have gone with Joel Quenneville, but I have no problem with Claude Julien winning either…

Blue and Gold (of Buffalo)

by Ebscer on May 1, 2009 3:50 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Quenneville

Took a team from the fringe to the elite, while managing a team that was torn apart after 4 games by the firing of Savard.

by Jermaniac on May 1, 2009 5:14 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm biased . . .

but I picked Andy Murray. Seriously . . . 15th in the conference at the beginning of February and leading the team into the playoffs . . . whilst basically missing your captain (Brewer), your most skilled defenseman (Johnson) and your most skilled veteran (Kariya) for big chunks or the balance of the season, all in the face of having an All-Star goaltender who went into complete meltdown mode somewhere around the All-Star Break (Legace) . . . THAT coaching performance is just . . . bleedin’ insane.

It would be difficult for me to imagine a situation where a coach like that is not recognized. But of course . . . it probably won’t be. Oh well.

"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive." -- W.C. Fields

by Donut King on May 1, 2009 8:00 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

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