[News] Babcock, Cooper and Roy Named Jack Adams Finalists

[Imported_Aussie]

For me, it has to be Babcock. He took a team in transition, moving into a new conference, and despite all the injuries, got them into the playoffs. He has also been the "nearly there" man in terms of this award so many times, and that sort of thing can be a tiebreaker in some people's minds. That he also did this with spotty goaltending, rather than riding a hot goalie to wins, should also be noted.

[Enoch Root]

All worthy candidates. I hope Babcock wins it.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I get a kick out of people saying that Roy shouldn't win it because all he did was take a team that underachieved last year and led them to a division title this year.

Isn't that the exact argument one would make for actually WINNING the award?

You said it yourself. They underachieved big time last season which means the talent was always there and all it took was a coach that wasn't flat out terrible to get improvement. I honestly believe the worst coach in the NHL this season would have guided the Avs to a better winning percentage than Sacco last season. Babcock did more with less.

[Huntingwhale]

Roy also completely changed their style of play. Babcock may have done more with less, but the Wings have always played the exact same for the last ~ decade. Roy took a team that was extremely porous defensively and lacklustre on offence last season (27th and 26th place) to 15th in D and 4th for goals this season. Pretty spectacular turn around with a lot of the same personal, especially on defence. I don't see how Roy can lose this one.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

Roy also completely changed their style of play. Babcock may have done more with less, but the Wings have always played the exact same for the last ~ decade. Roy took a team that was extremely porous defensively and lacklustre on offence last season (27th and 26th place) to 15th in D and 4th for goals this season. Pretty spectacular turn around with a lot of the same personal, especially on defence. I don't see how Roy can lose this one.

They were still porous defensively and were bailed out by a goaltender having a career year while giving up almost 33 shots per game that mirrors the Oilers. The Wild pretty well outplayed them in almost all seven games of that series and the only reason it went more than 4 games was Varlamov as much like the regular season he kept them in games they had no business being in. I'm not saying that Roy didn't do a great job for the Avalanche because he did but the talent was always there and they just needed a coach that wasn't terrible. The Wings should have never made the playoffs with all those injuries yet Babcock masterfully kept the ship on course.

[Redlan]

Originally Posted by fotze

If Roy wins, at least he won't let it go to his head like the other two.

I hope he wins twice so that they can plug his ears as well!

[cowtown75]

Roy hands down. Not even a competition.

[$ven27]

Roy should easily win. Amazing first season.

[Yrebmi]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

I get a kick out of people saying that Roy shouldn't win it because all he did was take a team that underachieved last year and led them to a division title this year.

Isn't that the exact argument one would make for actually WINNING the award?

I can see that point, but it's flimsy. It takes very little coaching skill to improve on the record of a predecessor who aims to lose, but to be certain let's also add in the first overall pick to the roster also.

Roy will win. He has to, because not giving it to him means the NHL is admitting that obvious tank job is obvious.

[expatflame]

Roy will easily win it.

[OffsideSpecialist]

I would have went with Berube. Flyers were horrid when he took over.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by OffsideSpecialist

I would have went with Berube. Flyers were horrid when he took over.

Yeah but Giroux was pretty horrible early and the team took off when his play did so while Berube does deserve to be in the conversation the Flyers finished in the area they were expected to finish. Great for a first year coach but nothing earth shattering.

[sun]

Originally Posted by Samiz

I really hope Patrick Roy doesn't win. He took control of a team that had a lot of the pieces (Duchene, Landeskog, O'Reilly, Mackinnon) that tanked hard last year. I think any coach would be successful with their roster, except Joe Sacco

Funny how Sacco's the butt end of jokes like this because he was nominated for the Jack Adams in 2010 (lost to Tippet).

"After being projected finishing 15th in the Western Conference by most hockey pundits, Sacco coached the Avalanche to the 2010 Stanley Cup Playoffs posting a record of 43–30–9 in his rookie year of coaching in the NHL. With a 26 point improvement on the Avalanche's previous season's efforts, this marks the greatest single year turnaround the NHL has seen since the 2000 expansion of the league." (wikipedia)

Not quite a Roy-esque turnaround and I know he was No Good after that season, but hey. Will be interesting to see Roy's coaching career here on out.

[Cyclops]

Can't see how anyone can argue that Roy doesn't deserve this award. Took a young team to win a division with a couple real contenders in it, who would have honestly thought that they would be ahead of the Hawks and Blues at the end of the season? He has a defence that is led by ?, sure isn't a big name defender or a massive minute eater on there.

Babcock took his team to the playoffs in the EAST, weren't they battling with Columbus, Washington and the Sens? Is that a successful season? I feel that if the Flames were in the East they would have been in the thick of it too, and I'm sure that most agree the Flames were suppose to be much worse than the Wings this year. Babcock shouldn't even be a nominee this year, I think what Ruff did with the Stars was more impressive.

[jeffman]

Not even a nomination for Julien, his Bruins ran away with the Presidents trophy and his defensive systems are admirable

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by jeffman

Not even a nomination for Julien, his Bruins ran away with the Presidents trophy and his defensive systems are admirable

It's a shame but it seems to me that coaches of elite teams don't get credit for keeping things together and ensuring that the talent is maximized and the team dominates. There's something to be said for coaching a team to meet or surpass high expectations as it's generally much easier for a first year coach to come into what was a disaster the year before and coach a team to surpass low expectations but very difficult and high pressure to coach a team at or above high expectations.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

It's a shame but it seems to me that coaches of elite teams don't get credit for keeping things together and ensuring that the talent is maximized and the team dominates. There's something to be said for coaching a team to meet or surpass high expectations as it's generally much easier for a first year coach to come into what was a disaster the year before and coach a team to surpass low expectations but very difficult and high pressure to coach a team at or above high expectations.

Exactly why Babcock has only 2 nominations his entire career, yet most people would say he's the best coach in the last decade.

I think regardless of how many stars your team has, it takes a special coach to find a system that works where everyone gels. President trophy winning coaches IMO should be near the top of the lists every year.