The Jack Adams Award is awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) coach “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.” The league’s Coach of the Year award has been presented 40 times to 34 coaches. The winner is selected by a poll of the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association at the end of the regular season. Five coaches have won the award twice, while Pat Burns has won three times, the most of any coach. The award is named in honour of Jack Adams, Hall of Fame player for the Toronto Arenas/St. Patricks, Vancouver Millionaires and original Ottawa Senators, and long-time Coach and General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings. It was first awarded at the conclusion of the 1973–74 regular season.
Quick Hits
Jack Adams, the Man and the Award
Jack Adams Award Winners
| Season | Winner | Team | Win # |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973–74 | Fred Shero[a] | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 |
| 1974–75 | Bob Pulford | Los Angeles Kings | 1 |
| 1975–76 | Don Cherry | Boston Bruins | 1 |
| 1976–77 | Scotty Bowman[a][b] | Montreal Canadiens | 1 |
| 1977-78 | Bobby Kromm | Detroit Red Wings | 1 |
| 1978–79 | Al Arbour[b] | New York Islanders | 1 |
| 1979–80 | Pat Quinn[b][c] | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 |
| 1980–81 | Red Berenson | St. Louis Blues | 1 |
| 1981–82 | Tom Watt | Winnipeg Jets | 1 |
| 1982–83 | Orval Tessier | Chicago Black Hawks | 1 |
| 1983–84 | Bryan Murray | Washington Capitals | 1 |
| 1984–85 | Mike Keenan[b][c] | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 |
| 1985–86 | Glen Sather[b] | Edmonton Oilers | 1 |
| 1986–87 | Jacques Demers | Detroit Red Wings | 1 |
| 1987–88 | Jacques Demers | Detroit Red Wings | 2 |
| 1988–89 | Pat Burns[c] | Montreal Canadiens | 1 |
| 1989–90 | Bob Murdoch | Winnipeg Jets | 1 |
| 1990–91 | Brian Sutter | St. Louis Blues | 1 |
| 1991–92 | Pat Quinn | Vancouver Canucks | 2 |
| 1992–93 | Pat Burns | Toronto Maple Leafs | 2 |
| 1993–94 | Jacques Lemaire | New Jersey Devils | 1 |
| 1994–95[d] | Marc Crawford | Quebec Nordiques | 1 |
| 1995–96 | Scotty Bowman[b] | Detroit Red Wings | 2 |
| 1996–97 | Ted Nolan | Buffalo Sabres | 1 |
| 1997–98 | Pat Burns | Boston Bruins | 3 |
| 1998–99 | Jacques Martin | Ottawa Senators | 1 |
| 1999–2000 | Joel Quenneville[b] | St. Louis Blues | 1 |
| 2000–01 | Bill Barber[e] | Philadelphia Flyers | 1 |
| 2001–02 | Bobby Francis | Phoenix Coyotes | 1 |
| 2002–03 | Jacques Lemaire | Minnesota Wild | 2 |
| 2003–04 | John Tortorella[a] | Tampa Bay Lightning | 1 |
| 2004–05[f] | — | — | — |
| 2005–06 | Lindy Ruff | Buffalo Sabres | 1 |
| 2006–07 | Alain Vigneault | Vancouver Canucks | 1 |
| 2007–08 | Bruce Boudreau[e] | Washington Capitals | 1 |
| 2008–09 | Claude Julien | Boston Bruins | 1 |
| 2009–10 | Dave Tippett | Phoenix Coyotes | 1 |
| 2010–11 | Dan Bylsma | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1 |
| 2011–12 | Ken Hitchcock[e] | St. Louis Blues | 1 |
| 2012–13[g] | Paul MacLean | Ottawa Senators | 1 |
| 2013–14 | Patrick Roy | Colorado Avalanche | 1 |
| 2014–15 | Bob Hartley | Calgary Flames | 1 |
| 2015–16 | Barry Trotz[b] | Washington Capitals | 1 |
| 2016–17 | John Tortorella | Columbus Blue Jackets | 2 |
| 2017–18 | Gerard Gallant[c] | Vegas Golden Knights | 1 |
| 2018–19 | Barry Trotz | New York Islanders | 2 |
| 2019–20[h] | Bruce Cassidy[b] | Boston Bruins | 1 |
| 2020-21 | Rod Brind’Amour | Carolina Hurricanes | 1 |
| 2021-22 | Darryl Sutter | Calgary Flames | 1 |
| 2022-23 | Jim Montgomery | Boston Bruins | 1 |
| 2023-24 | Rick Tocchet | Vancouver Canucks | 1 |
a. Coaches whose teams won the Stanley Cup
b. Teams who had best overall record in regular season (Presidents’ Trophy awarded to team with best overall record since 1985–86)
c. Coaches whose teams lost the Stanley Cup final round
d. Season shortened by the 1994–95 NHL lockout
e. Coaches whose teams replaced the coach that started the season
f. Not awarded due to the lock-out
g. Season shortened by the 2012–13 NHL lockout
h. Regular season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic
Some History
Jacques Demers is the only coach to win the award in consecutive seasons. Five coaches have won the award with two teams: Jacques Lemaire, Pat Quinn, Scotty Bowman, Barry Trotz, and John Tortorella have won the award twice, while Pat Burns is the only coach to win three times.
The franchises with the most Jack Adams Award winners are the Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins and Arizona Coyotes with four winners each, although the Coyotes had two winners in Winnipeg before they moved to Arizona.
Bill Barber, Bruce Boudreau and Ken Hitchcock are the only coaches to win the award after replacing the head coach who started the season. Barber took over for Craig Ramsay during the Flyers‘ 2000–01 season, Boudreau replaced Glen Hanlon a month into the Capitals‘ 2007–08 season while Hitchcock replaced Davis Payne a month into the Blues‘ 2011–12 season.
The closest vote occurred in 2006, when the winner Lindy Ruff edged out Peter Laviolette by a single point
