The Top 5 Candidates for the Jack Adams Award at the End of December

The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to “the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”

The first time the award was presented was in 1974, to the great Fred Shero. Shero won the award while coaching the Philadelphia Flyers to a record of 50-16-12, good for 112 points and the right to be called Stanley Cup champions.

The award was named after Jack Adams, a longtime coach and manager of the Detroit Red Wings. It was a head coaches award, with the assistant coaches getting small recognition for the success of the team.

The award was primarily for coaches who brought a team that was nowhere the season before and made them into contenders, and now is mainly an award for the coach who leads his team to the best overall record.

The top 5 candidates for the Jack Adams Award at the end of December.

Jacques Demers is the only head coach to win the Jack Adams award in consecutive seasons, winning in 1986-87 and again in 1987-88 with the Detroit Red Wings.

Jacques Lemaire, Pat Quinn, Scotty Bowman, and John Tortorella are the only coaches to win the award with two different teams. Pat Burns is the only head coach to win the award with three different teams (Montreal Canadians, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Boston Bruins).

The Jack Adams Award has been awarded 47 times to 39 different coaches. The franchises with the most Jack Adams Award winners are the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers with four wins a piece.

Bill Barber, Ken Hitchcock, and Bruce Boudreau are the only head coaches to win the award after taking the job mid-season.

The award is a credit to the coaches who motivate their team to do better, face adversity well, and deal with the best with bad situations.

Below are the top five candidates for the Jack Adamas Award this season.