Winnipeg Jets: Paul Maurice and the Jack Adams Award
Your Winnipeg Jets award coverage continues. Sort of. While we have talked about the Vezina Trophy and Patrik Laine’s near miss for the Rocket Richard trophy, there’s another Jet who deserved some hardware.
The Winnipeg Jets had a fine season. But more so than that, they overachieved. Er, maybe exceeded expectations is a better way to put it. The team seems like they were as good as they played.
The Jack Adams award is a lot like every sport’s coach of the year award. There’s no statistic for evaluating coaches. At least not a useful one. The only statistic we have for evaluating coaches in any sport is wins and losses.
So, for this award, it routinely goes to whatever team exceeded expectations the most. The big surprises, so to speak. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
But we know the Winnipeg Jets had a surprisingly good season. I mean, nobody was going to predict 114 points for most teams, let alone the boys out in Manitoba. They were a fringe wild card contender who became a Western Conference Finalist.
More from Analysis
- Winnipeg Jets vs. Blackhawks Round 3: 5 Things We learned
- Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck is the Best Goalie of the Last 5 Years
- A Patrik Laine Trade Redux Prior to Winnipeg Jets vs. Columbus
- Winnipeg Jets Doppelgangers: Look-A-Likes PART II
- Can Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets Actually Win the Norris?
The team’s ability to avoid prolonged slumps and come back from bad games in the playoffs to win the following game really reflects well on the coaching staff. But Paul Maurice was not named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award.
I am okay with this. Did he deserve it? Sure. But they can only have three. And while he wasn’t one of them, I can’t really argue with the finalists.
Jared Bednar of the Avalanche, Bruce Cassidy of the Bruins and, of course, Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights were the three finalists. And they’re good candidates.
Bednar? Well, he only took a team from 48 to 95 points. This was his sophomore season, after the front office stuck with him after a miserable campaign. Coming one point away from nearly doubling your point total will get you some recognition.
Cassidy? He took over after Claude Julien was fired midway through last season and brought the B’s to 112 points. They were expected to be good, but not that good. A remarkably similar story to Maurice’s, only without the longevity (Maurice has been the HC of the WPG since 2013).
And you know who will win the award, albeit deservedly, is Gerard Gallant. I’ve spoken about him quite a bit here. But taking a team of unknowns to a Stanley Cup Berth (yes, I know the finalists are chosen before then) is an accomplishment. Gallant deserves to win and he will. An expansion team winning a division is just too good a narrative.
The only thing working against Maurice, I believe, is the immediate success of Cassidy. Bednar and Gallant were slam-dunk candidates. Cassidy and Maurice’s squads had similar seasons, but Maurice took a few years to make the Jets contenders. I know the Bruins made the playoffs last year, but this was his first full season with the team.
Oh well, whatever. It doesn’t matter, but it’s fun to debate. Maurice is a great coach and the Winnipeg Jets are lucky to have him. Hardware is hardware, it doesn’t matter much.
Next: Ilya Kovalchuk's NHL Future
Also, start submitting your questions for Jets White Out Mailbag! I’ll be answering your questions now, theoretically weekly. Send them into my Twitter @kyleofmacedonia or the @FSJetsWhiteOut page, and tag it with #WPGJetsMailbag. You can also email your questions in to KyleofMacedonia@gmail.com. Thanks!