May 7, 2015
Michael Clifford
2015-05-07
Rangers and Habs on the verge of being eliminated, while Chicago goes for a sweep. Thoughts on both the Jack Adams and Ted Lindsay awards.
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As always, I'll have a thread open around noon at the Dobber Forums for any fantasy hockey (and general hockey) question. It's a chance for keeper questions, outlooks, or anything else on the mind of the reader.
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The Jack Adams Trophy finalists (coach of the year) were named and it was Bob Hartley of the Flames, Peter Laviolette from the Predators, and Alain Vigneault of the Rangers finishing as the final three. Hartley led a thought-to-be non-contender to a playoff berth, Laviolette was behind the bench for a 16 point turn-around from last year, and Vigneault led the Rangers to a Presidents' Trophy. It's hard to argue with the results of all three.
I suppose the Jack Adams can best be described as "did most with least" award, for the most part. The last three winners are Ken Hitchcock (took a Blues team back to playoffs in 2012), Paul MacLean (PeskySens), and Patrick Roy (thanks Semyon Varlamov). Constant excellence is rarely rewarded, and playoffs are not, which is why Joel Quenneville and Darryl Sutter have none in the last five years despite four Stanley Cups, and Mike Babcock has none to his credit. For that reason, I would say Vigneault is unlikely to win. Hartley will probably win the trophy, and there's no real problem with that, but coaches like Jon Cooper in Tampa Bay, Bruce Boudreau in Anaheim, and Paul Maurice in Winnipeg are all worthy of mentions as well.
Chicago looks poised for another Stanley Cup run given their performance so far in the playoffs. They never really looked to be in a lot of trouble against Nashville, and are on the verge of sweeping Minnesota in the second round. Corey Crawford has settled in net to give the team some stability in their goaltending, Patrick Kane looks like Playoff Patrick Kane, and the top line of Marian Hossa, Jonathan Toews, and Brandon Saad has probably been the best so far these playoffs (sorry, Anaheim). As just a fan of hockey, watching Hossa/Toews/Saad is about as good as it gets. The age gaps between the players are obvious, and a nice talking point, though Hossa looks to be playing as good a game as he ever has.