| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| The 4th Line Banger |
Posted - 05/05/2012 : 14:00:58
The nominations for the Jack Adams award for the NHL's best coach were recently announced. The nominees included John Tortorella of the Rangers, Ken Hitchcock of the Blues, and Paul MacLean from the Senators. All worthy nominees but I can't help to think there is a name that is more deserving than all of the fellows. If not for this season, for the years he has been overlooked.
Barry Trotz is the only coach the Predators have ever had. He is the 2nd longest tenured coach in the NHL. His team has the 5th most wins since the lock-out and has never had a top 10 scoring player. The Preds have made the playoffs in 7 of the last 8 seasons, have 7 consecutive 40+ win seasons and always have one of the lowest payrolls in the league. This season alone, the Pred finished 5th in the NHL and had the top PP in the league. They did not have a single 30 goal scorer or a player with more than 65 pts.
I understand that Hitchcock and MacLean both had seasons where they got more out of their teams than anyone expected. Tortorella had a great season with a team that was not expected to win the East and that deserves credit as well. I get that all these guys had great years and deserve recognition.
However, this is what Barry Trotz does year after year after year. Barry Trotz is the best coach on the planet and gets no respect. None what so ever. He has only once been nominated for the Jack Adams and that is simply criminal.
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Posted - 05/06/2012 : 11:16:04
Agreed for the most part, certainly could have and probably should have gotten the nod over Torts as the third nomination.
However, this year, I truly think it's Hitch's trophy all the way, and if for whatever reason he doesn't win, it's going to McLean for sure after that.
Truthfully though, Trotz is a consistently good coach who just might be a victim of never being the BEST coach in any given year. The Mike Gartner of coaching, as it were.
"Take off, eh?" - Bob and Doug |
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