Jon Cooper, Dan Muse, Lindy Ruff up for coach of year award
Jon Cooper, Dan Muse and Lindy Ruff have been named the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, the NHL introduced Friday.
The Adams is awarded to the pinnacle coach who’s “adjudged to have contributed the most to his team’s success.”
Cooper, who’s the NHL’s longest-tenured coach, guided the Tampa Bay Lightning to their ninth consecutive playoff look. The 58-year-old has coached the staff to 5 50-win campaigns and 7 seasons of greater than 100 factors.
Under Cooper, the Lightning had been within the high 5 in targets scored per recreation and fewest targets allowed per recreation. They additionally completed with the No. 3 penalty kill within the NHL with an 82.6% success fee.
A 3-time Adams finalist, Cooper is in search of to win the award for the primary time in his profession. If so, he would turn out to be the second coach in Lightning historical past to win the Adams behind John Tortorella.
Muse, who was employed final offseason by the Penguins, took over a staff that had missed the playoffs for three straight seasons and guided it again to the postseason. Pittsburgh would finally lose within the first spherical to the cross-state rival Philadelphia Flyers.
In his first NHL season, Muse, 43, was pressured to make a sequence of changes to his lineup. The Penguins navigated accidents and inconsistencies in a season that noticed them play a league-high 44 gamers.
If Muse had been to win, he can be the primary rookie head coach since Patrick Roy in 2013-14 to seize the Adams. He’s the third coach in Penguins historical past to be a finalist, becoming a member of Dan Bylsma and Michel Therrien. Bylsma gained the award in 2010-11.
Ruff, who’s in his second stint with the Sabres, guided the membership to its first playoff look in 14 seasons. The Sabres’ postseason drought was so lengthy that they entered the season tied with the NFL’s New York Jets for the longest streak with out making the playoffs in main American sports activities.
Under Ruff, the Sabers had the third 50-win season in franchise historical past. They completed with 109 factors, the fifth-highest complete in membership historical past. It was additionally the Sabres’ first division title since 2009-10, which got here throughout Ruff’s first run with the staff.
The Sabres’ 30-point enchancment was the second-largest enhance from 2024-25 behind the San Jose Sharks.
The 66-year-old coach gained the Adams in 2005-06 after guiding the Sabers to a 53-win season that ended within the Eastern Conference finals. This is his fifth time as an Adams finalist, which ties him with Scotty Bowman, Alain Vigneault and Tortorella for essentially the most in NHL historical past.
Adams voting was completed by members of the NHL Broadcasters’ Association who submitted their ballots on the finish of the common season. Those coaches who completed within the high three in votes had been named finalists.