The historic inaugural season for the Vegas Golden Knights continued on Wednesday as Gerard Gallant was named winner of the 2017-18 Jack Adams Award.
The award is voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association and given to the the head coach who has “contributed the most to his team’s success.”
The Golden Knights finished with 51 wins and 109 points to become the first modern-era expansion team from any of the four major North American professional sports leagues to win its division. After a hot start, the Golden Knights saw their goaltenders hit with injury, which included losing Marc-Andre Fleury to a concussion for two months. They would use four netminders to stay afloat and set an NHL record on Feb. 1 with their 34th win, most by a team in its first season.
Voting took place before the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Gallant’s magic continued to work as he helped lead the Golden Knights to the Cup Final against the Washington Capitals.
(Somehow, one of the broadcasters left Gallant completely off of their ballot.)
Gallant was a finalist for the award in 2016 while head coach of the Florida Panthers.
Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche and Bruce Cassidy of the Boston Bruins were the other finalists.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.