Jack Adams Award finalists a worthy bunch

Bruce Boudreau for coach of the year! He turned the Caps from worst to first after Hanlon gets fired and did it without Michael Nylander and Chris Clark! The defense pairings were a mess too with all the injuries the Caps had. Jack Adams to Bruuuuuuuuce! I will admit, stealing Cristobal Huet at the trade deadline helped a lot, because with Kolzig and Johnson in net the Caps miss the playoffs.

A penalty (shot) for shoving? Did I miss something in the 60 years that I have been watching hockey?. Malkin was awarded a penalty shot because Girardi caught up to him and pushed him before he (Malkin) could shoot. What else was Girardi to do?. Borrow a camera and take a photo?. Everyone was so concerned with whether or not the puck crossed the line, that it was automatically assumed that Girardi had committed an offence that warranted a penalty. Are the referees getting dumber. Why penalise Girardi for a push. Why did the league have to tell the referee that what Avery did was unsportsmanlike. Was it not obvious for all the world to see.

I'll admit I am a wings fan, but regardless Babcock deserves this nomination. He has gotten a team with talented forwards to play defense. I think it has taken a number of years for him to truly revamp the wings. He has talent but he gets a lot from his talents, comming in he should've won the presidents trophy and he did.

What's wrong with Pittsburgh to-night?, they are playing like they want to lose and hopefully win the next game at home. This could backfire on them. Also what of the lack lustre performance of Malkin on the penalty shot. DISGUSTING. Looked to me like he didn't want to score.

Babcock? c'mon be serious, that team with its players dont even need a coach..Trotz should have been on there instead of babcock.

Who makes these lists up? people who dont even watch hockey?

Uh what about MIchel Therrien, Crosby out for over 20 games and Fluery out for half the year and they finished second in the conference with 102 points and on the verge of back to back sweeps in the playoffs.And of course everyone hasd already crowned Ovechkin as the hart trophy winner, but again why not Malkin he carries the Pens on his back right into the playoffs, by the way he is the best player in the NHL right now.Crosby 20, Malkin 21, Staal 19, Fluery 23 and LeTang 19 everyone needs to get used to the Pens and Stanley Cup in the same breath for a long time...

The idea that Brent Sutter even should be considered for the Adams is shear lunacy. I'm a Devils fan. More often than not Sutter had that "deer in the headlights" look on his face.

My choice would be Claude Julian for two reasons. 1) He did a great job with the Bruins. 2) He was another victim of Lou Lamoriello's massive ego.

PS - A note to Devils' ownership. Kick Lou up stirs. It appears Mr. Lamoriello is unable to adjust to the "new rules" in today's NHL

Claude Julien, anyone? He got only 4 games from his starting goalie out of training camp, lost Patrice Bergeron after 10 games, lost one of his best scorers in Chuck Kobasew with a month to go, lost countless other pivotal players for stretches (Savard, Chara, Ward, Murray, Alberts), yet guided his team into the playoffs and STILL almost knocked off the #1 seeded Canadiens. One could argue that the Bruins even outplayed Montreal for stretches of that series.

There are bunches of worthy candidates, all of whom are worthy of consideration. Impossible to pick a winner from this lot while justifying why the others didn't.

I think that John Stevens or Claude Julien should have been in Mike Babcock's position for coach of the year. Anyone could have coached the Red Wings and got them to where they currently are!

If (or when:) the Wings win the cup to add to the President's trophy then it has to be Mike Babcock. The team defence and work ethic of Detriot is symtomatic a coach getting the best out of a bunch of really talented stars. If they continue to dominate the playoffs as they did the league then there can be no other choice.

How is it that Boudreau is a finalist and Stevens isn't? Oh, that's right: Stevens coaches the Flyers. The Flyers went from last in the league to the second round of the playoffs by going through the Caps, who only made the playoffs at all because they're in the lamest division in the league.

Charboneau? Come on. So all you have to do is be the coach of a Canadian team for two years, one lousy and one decent? I guess it'll be the Canucks boss next year.

Good job, all.

What a tough choice, I'm with Paul - declare a 3-way tie. You can't pick 1 guy out of that bunch, they were all fantastic.

Brent Sutter should have had some considerations as he took a team that Clearly should not have even made the playoffs with the D they had. They almost won the division title if not for the last few weeks of the season losing skid. It would be nice for Babcock to win it, it seems this award is only given to guys who drastically improve teams instead of excellence behind the bench. It is hard to keep a team at a high level consistantly but Babcock has.

I would like to submit a question to Mr. Cherry.

Dear Mr. Cherry,

I wonder if you can tell us people in the minor hockey world why the NHL referrees don't call a hit from behind. As was the case last night in the Montreal/Philadelphia game, Mr. Begin plowed his opponent from behind into the boards almost into an open door. The referree called it "interference". In minor hockey, that would have been a hit from behind with a 3 game suspension. In Coach's Corner, you showed us Hatcher's vicious hit behind the net. A hit from behind is the most serious offence a player can commit in minor hockey. It's never a 2 minute penalty. It ranges from one to three game suspension. I'm sure you've seen the STOP signs on the backs of the kids' jerseys. Yet kids watch vicious hits from behind on TV with no call. I'm sure they're confused. They call slashing, elbowing, tripping, interence, fighting, etc etc etc, everything except a hit from behind. I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch a fight than a hit from behind. At least a player can defend himself in a fight. How can a player defend himself when he has his back turned and a locomotive is coming? It's a cowardly act and much more dangerous than fighting or even icing. I detest anyone who hits a player from behind. Although I'm pulling for Montreal to pull through this series, I thought Mr. Begin's penalty was deserved and it cost his team the game. That hurt even more than a 3 game suspension. Please let us know your thoughts on this matter, specifically, why does the NHL not call hits from behind a "hit from behind"? Thank you.

"Guyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy" for coach of the year! He's a rock!
Oh, and Sid the kid for the Conn smyth..... He's going to dive right into the cup finals !

I think all the candidates (including official picks and Don's additions) are excellent choices, but no-one did more with less than Barry Trotz (under extremely difficult circumstances). Bruce Boudreau clearly changed Washington's direction, but at the end of the day, if Ovechkin doesn't come up with a superhuman MVP month of March, the Caps still aren't even close to the playoffs. Does that say more about the coach or the player?

How do you choose for Coach of the Year this year... close your eyes and point to a name on a piece of paper?
Has there ever been a three way tie? It might be fitting to have it that way this year.
Even the coaches that Grapes mentioned at the end of Coach's Corner that are not on the final three candidate list have reasons why they should have been.