The firing of Jim Montgomery this week was newsworthy for loads of causes, largely surrounding what it means for the spiraling Bruins. However it was additionally attention-grabbing for awards watchers, who most likely recall Montgomery profitable the Jack Adams as coach of the yr in 2023. It’s honest to say the record of that yr’s finalists has, as the children say nowadays, not aged properly.
In Could 2023, the NHL introduced its finalists for the Jack Adams as coach of the yr: Jim Montgomery, Dave Hakstol and Lindy Ruff.
Simply 18 months later, all three have since been fired.
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) November 19, 2024
Ruff didn’t even make it by the 2023-24 season, whereas Hakstol was gone early within the offseason. Montgomery was the comparative ironman, making all of it the way in which till Tuesday.
Three coaches, the obvious better of the most effective in 2023, all fired earlier than the tip of 2024. We have now to ask the query: Is the Jack Adams cursed?
No, as a result of curses aren’t actual. However it’s a bizarre award, one which’s sometimes voted on as a lot primarily based on short-term shock issue as long-term excellence. If the trophy actually went to the most effective coach within the league yearly, we’d anticipate to see loads of names listed as multiple-time winners, similar to we do for the Hart or the Vezina. With the exceedingly uncommon Jim Carey-level exception that proves the rule, you seldom see main participant awards go to guys who’re out of a job totally inside just a few years.
However you do see it with the Jack Adams, partially as a result of the broadcasters who vote on it sometimes lean towards coaches whose groups have exceeded expectations, which is good however not the identical as being the most effective on the job. Worse, a spot as a Jack Adams finalist mixed with a surprisingly sturdy season usually raises expectations, and expectations could be an NHL coach’s worst enemy.
So perhaps it’s not shocking that we see the occasional outlier like that 2023 trio of soon-to-deposed coaches. The issue is it’s not a lot of an outlier in any respect. So as we speak, let’s look by the Jack Adams finalists for each season of the cap period and ask a easy query: How properly did the record maintain up, when it comes to these guys clearing the low bar of merely protecting their jobs?
I’ve pulled ten years the place the reply ranges from “not nice” to “huge oof,” which looks as if loads contemplating we’ve solely bought 19 years to select from. Let’s rely down these 10 lists of finalists, from unhealthy to worse.
#10. 2017-18
The finalists: Gerard Gallant (Golden Knights) beat out Bruce Cassidy (Bruins) and Jared Bednar (Avalanche)
However then: Cassidy lasted 4 extra seasons in Boston, whereas Bednar remains to be in Colorado. However Gallant, regardless of bringing an enlargement crew to the Stanley Cup Closing, lasted simply one other season and a half in Vegas earlier than being given the boot.
How properly does it maintain up?: Fairly properly, particularly since – as we’ll see in a bit – this form of factor appears to occur to Gallant loads.
#9. 2020-21
The finalists: Rod Brind’Amour (Hurricanes) beat out Dean Evason (Wild) and Joel Quenneville (Panthers)
However then: Evason did nice in Minnesota earlier than discovering his solution to Columbus, whereas Brind’Amour will be the most revered coach in the whole league proper now. However whereas no person may have seen it coming on the time, Quenneville solely coached seven extra video games earlier than he was executed in Florida, and he hasn’t coached since.
Does it maintain up?: I feel it largely does as a result of the Quenneville situation needs a gigantic asterisk. However in case you’re on the lookout for the cap-era report for quickest job loss after being a Jack Adams finalist, seven video games is fairly powerful to beat. Robust, however as we’ll see in a bit, not unattainable.
#8. 2013-14
The finalists: Patrick Roy (Avalanche) beat out Mike Babcock (Red Wings) and Jon Cooper (Lightning)
However then: That is admittedly a little bit of an odd one, as Babcock was out of Detroit a yr later and Roy was out of Colorado in two. However in each circumstances, it was by selection, with Babcock getting a windfall in Toronto whereas Roy walked out on the Avalanche.
How properly does it maintain up?: Not terrible, when you have a look at the circumstances. One factor that doesn’t maintain up: That is one in all solely two occasions that Cooper has even been named a finalist for an award he’s by no means gained.
Bruce Boudreau is one in all three coaches to win the Jack Adams for a partial season. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Photographs for NHL)
#7. 2007-08
The finalists: Bruce Boudreau (Capitals) beat out Man Carbonneau (Canadiens) and Mike Babcock (Crimson Wings)
However then: Boudreau gained the award as a rookie primarily based on a partial season, and went on to teach 16 seasons and (perhaps) counting, whereas Babcock was in the midst of his spotless repute period that lasted one other decade or so. However Carbonneau didn’t even make it throughout the subsequent season earlier than the Canadiens fired him, and he by no means coached within the NHL once more.
How properly does it maintain up?: A traditional two-out-of-three-is-kind-of-bad Jack Adams area. Ah properly, they’ll most likely do higher subsequent yr.
#6. 2008-09
The finalists: Claude Julien (Bruins) beat out Andy Murray (Blues) and Todd McLellan (Sharks)
However then: Julien and McLellan caught round, however Murray was fired midway by the next season. He hasn’t had an NHL head teaching job since.
How properly does it maintain up?: Yep, two years in a row that the Jack Adams runner-up was fired throughout the next season. In case you’re questioning, that mini-streak was damaged in 2010 by Nashville’s Barry Trotz, who made it to 2014.
#5. 2011-12
The finalists: Ken Hitchcock (Blues) beat out John Tortorella (Rangers) and Paul MacLean (Senators)
However then: It is a bizarre one. Regardless of a repute as a man who wears out his welcome within the room, Hitchcock lasted the longest of this group, teaching in St. Louis till 2016-17. In the meantime, Tortorella solely had one yr left in New York earlier than he was off to Vancouver for, uh, one yr.
However the actually unusual one is MacLean. He didn’t simply preserve his job in 2012-13, he went back-to-back as a finalist and gained the award. Then he lasted only one extra season and alter, and regardless of a number of stops as an assistant he hasn’t had one other head-coaching alternative since. So two Jack Adams finalist spots in his first two years, then only one extra full season and thanks for popping out. What a bizarre job and/or league.
How properly does it maintain up?: Not properly. For what it’s value, the opposite two finalists in 2013 had been Boudreau and Quenneville, which is why I’m not itemizing it regardless that the winner wasn’t lengthy for the league. I determine this entry captures the MacLean weirdness properly sufficient.
Paul MacLean was a Jack Adams finalist in each of his first two years as an NHL head coach. (Jana Chytilova / Freestyle Pictures / Getty Photographs)
#4. 2014-15
The finalists: Bob Hartley (Flames) beat out Alain Vigneault (Rangers) and Peter Laviolette (Predators)
However then: Vigneault caught round New York till 2018 and Laviolette lasted till 2020 in Nashville. However Hartley beat them each for the award, then lasted only one extra yr in Calgary and hasn’t had a job within the NHL since. He went on to teach the Latvian nationwide crew and is now within the KHL.
How properly does it maintain up?: Not nice, given the winner was out of the league totally inside a yr.
#3. 2015-16
The finalists: Barry Trotz (Capitals) beat out Gerard Gallant (Panthers) and Lindy Ruff (Stars)
However then: Trotz guided the Capitals to a Stanley Cup in 2018 after which left on his personal phrases instantly after. Issues didn’t go as properly for Ruff, who lasted only one extra season in Dallas earlier than being proven the door.
However the actual star right here is Gallant, who’d simply led the Panthers to the primary 100-point season in franchise historical past and appeared to be the proper coach for a crew on the rise. As a substitute, he was simply 22 video games away from the infamous taxi cab firing that ended up symbolizing the monumental dysfunction of Panthers administration and their pc boys, a repute they probably never recovered from.
How properly does it maintain up?: For about so long as the waving hand of an deserted coach attempting to hail a cab.
#2. 2022-23
The finalists: Jim Montgomery (Bruins) beat out Lindy Ruff (Devils) and Dave Hakstol (Kraken)
However then: Properly, no less than all of them made it to opening night time of the subsequent season, proper? That’s foreshadowing, by the way in which.
How properly does it maintain up?: Terribly. However wait, how is that this not primary? Properly, about that…
#1. 2021-22
The finalists: Darryl Sutter (Flames) beat out Andrew Brunette (Panthers) and Gerard Gallant (Rangers)
However then: The place to start. Sutter was fired on the finish of the subsequent season. So was Gallant, and congratulations to him on the hat trick of appearances on this article. However each guys no less than made it to the subsequent season, which is greater than we are able to say for Brunette. The Panthers replaced him with Paul Maurice simply weeks after the finalists had been introduced, in a transfer that wasn’t technically a firing (since they supplied him an opportunity to remain within the group) however had the identical impact.
Three coaches, three spots as a Jack Adams finalist, and a mixed (runs numbers) two complete seasons of sticking round of their jobs.
How properly does it maintain up?: As the one worst record of Jack Adams finalists of the cap period, no less than in hindsight. And that’s saying one thing.
(Prime picture of Gerard Gallant and Bob Hartley: Ethan Miller / Getty Photographs)
