The NHL announced the results for the Jack Adams Award on Saturday, given annually to “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success” as voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association.
Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery came away with a decisive win, appearing first on 81 of the 103 ballots
The Capitals finished second in the NHL regular season standings for 2024-25 and saw a 20-point improvement in their overall standings this season, after an 11-point improvement the prior year.
In total, 13 NHL coaches received at least one vote — voters selected a first, second and third place coach on each ballot — but Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour was not one of those coaches.
I’m not saying that Brind’Amour should have won the award, as Carbery was a well worthy candidate with how he was able to get the Capitals back to being true contenders, but it does seem like an apparent lack of respect for one of the league’s top coaches.
Despite the Carolina Hurricanes’ continued success, appearing in seven straight postseasons and winning at least a round in each as well as another Eastern Conference Final appearance, Brind’Amour was seemingly not given a ton of credit for the team’s success by the broadcasters.
Overall, it’s been pretty telling how the award has transitioned to more so being about which teams were the most surprising this season as opposed to true coaching effect.
I mean, for one, neither Jon Cooper nor Jared Bednar have ever won a Jack Adams Award despite Tampa Bay and Colorado consistently being two of the top teams in the league year in and year out.
However, both of them still appeared on ballots this season while Brind’Amour did not, despite their teams finishing just three points higher than the Hurricanes.
Finishing three points higher while, might I add, they both have multiple elite and MVP-level players on their teams as well.
Carolina meanwhile has no award finalists, no 40-goal scorers, no player who has even ever broken 100-points. But they do have a great system, full team buy-in and belief, all things I would credit back to the coaching staff.
Again, not saying Brind’Amour should have won by any means, but for him to not even get a single vote of any kind feels just wrong.
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