In Vietbet Hockey News, the NHL announced its three finalists for the Jack Adams Award on May 6, which is presented to the coach of the year. This year’s nominees are Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Mike Babcock of the Detroit Red Wings, and Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche. The voting was carried out by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association at the end of the regular season with the top three vote-getters being named as finalists.
The NHL awards will be handed out during the league’s annual ceremony on Tuesday, June 24. This year’s gala event will be held at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas and televised nationally across North America. The Jack Adams award was first handed out in 1974 by the league and NHL Broadcasters’ Association to honor the late Jack Adams, a former Detroit Red Wings coach and general manager.
The 51-year-old Babcock of the Red Wings guided his team to its 23rd straight appearance in the postseason by compiling a record of 39-28-15 for 93. The 23 consecutive years is currently the longest playoff streak in North American pro sports. The Red Wings managed the feat even though injuries cost them a team-record 421 man-games lost this season.
Babcock used 38 different players this year as stars such as Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk each missed 37 contests. Nine Red Wings made their NHL debuts this campaign as Babcock had to dip into the roster of the Red Wings’ American Hockey League farm team in Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is the second time Babcock has been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award. He placed third in the voting in 2007/08.
The 46-year-old Cooper of the Lightning helped Tampa finish second place in the Atlantic Division with a record of 46-27-9 for 101 points. The year before, they finished 28th in the 30-team league. This was Cooper’s first year behind Tampa Bay’s bench after winning the American Hockey League’s Calder Cup championship in 2012 with the Norfolk Admirals.
Cooper had eight rookies in his lineup this season and all of them appeared in a minimum of 40 games. The Lightning were one of the best teams in the league when it came to winning close contests as they went 20-11-9 in one-goal games. The previous season they were the worst in the league at 5-12-4. The club also won 21 games on the road in 2013/14, which was just one short of the franchise’s record.
The 48-year-old Roy of the Avalanche enjoyed a fine rookie season as a head coach by leading his team to a 52-22-8 record for 112 points. Colorado finished the season with the third-best record in the NHL after missing the playoffs last season and ending it in 29th place. The Avalanche became the first team since 1979 to finish in the top three after placing in the bottom three the previous season.
Roy helped lead his club to a team record-tying performance in wins and boasted the league’s top road mark this season at 26-11-4. In addition, the Avalanche never lost a regulation game after holding a two-period lead, going 35-0-3 and had the fourth-best goals-against average in the league.
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