Scott Arniel of the Winnipeg Jets, Spencer Carbery of the Washington Capitals and Martin St. Louis of the Montreal Canadiens were announced on Friday as the NHL’s Jack Adams Award finalists. The award is presented annually to “the coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”
In his second season, Carbery guided the Capitals to the league’s second-best record while deftly navigating star captain Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of the NHL’s all-time goals record. Ovechkin’s chase never became a distraction, and it appeared to inspire the Capitals, who finished atop the Eastern Conference standings a year after qualifying for the playoffs as the conference’s final wild-card team.
Carbery was not a finalist for the Adams last season — a surprise given how little was expected of that squad. These Capitals were not preseason darlings among prognosticators, either.
Two of the three Adams finalists from a year ago — Rick Bowness (Winnipeg) and Rick Tocchet (Vancouver) — are no longer coaching those teams. The last three coaches to win the Adams Award — Tocchet, Jim Montgomery (Boston) and Darryl Sutter (Calgary) — are no longer with those teams.
If Carbery doesn’t win, the only coach to lead his team to more points this season could take the Adams. That would be Arniel, who replaced Bowness in Winnipeg.
Arniel steered the Jets to their first Presidents’ Trophy, energizing Winnipeg’s veterans after several years of postseason disappointment..
St. Louis led the Canadiens’ surprise return to the playoffs. Montreal’s young core took huge strides this season, and the Canadiens morphed from a team with upside into one that won with a combination of skill and grit.
Montreal is one of the most challenging media markets, but St. Louis navigated it well, along with the pressure that comes with coaching the league’s most historic franchise.
Voted on by members of the NHL Broadcasters Association, the Jack Adams Award was first presented in 1974. It honors the late Jack Adams, who won the Stanley Cup three times as the longtime coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings.
The NHL unveiled finalists for three other NHL awards on Friday: Selke (best defensive forward), Masterton (perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication) and Lady Byng (sportsmanship, gentlemanly conduct). Earlier this week, the league revealed finalists for the Vezina (top goaltender), Norris (best defenseman) and Hart (league MVP) trophies, along with the Ted Lindsay Award (most outstanding player).
(Photo of Spencer Carbery: Sam Navarro / Imagn Images)