As reported earlier, the NHL named its finalists for the 2012 Jack Adams Award, given annually to the coach “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”
The three nominees are: St. Louis’s Ken Hitchcock, Ottawa’s Paul MacLean and the New York Rangers’ John Tortorella.
Before we get to the poll, some things to consider...
-- Unlike the other awards, which are voted on by either NHL GMs or the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association, the Jack Adams is decided by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association.
-- Regarding Hitchcock (an in-season replacement): Only two coaches have ever won the Jack Adams after replacing the head coach who started the season. Philly’s Bill Barber won it in 2001-01 after replacing Craig Ramsay; Washington’s Bruce Boudreau won it in 2007-08 after taking over from Glen Hanlon.
-- This is Hitchcock’s fourth Jack Adams nomination, Tortorella’s third and MacLean’s first. Of the three, only Torts has won (in 2004).
-- The last St. Louis Blues head coach to win the Adams was Joel Quenneville (1999-2000), the last Senators coach was Jacques Martin (1998-99) and, surprisingly, no Rangers bench boss has ever won the award.
-- For what it’s worth, Hitchcock is our favorite for this year. Posting a .703 winning percentage played a fairly big part in that decision.
Onto the poll, then...
[polldaddy poll=6185320]