The NHL on Friday announced the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, presented annually to the coach who “contributed the most to his team’s success,” and Mike Sullivan was not among the three.
The three finalists are Rod Brind’Amour of the Hurricanes, Dean Evason of the Wild and Joel Quenneville of the Panthers. The winner of all of the NHL awards will be announced during the semifinal and Stanley Cup Final rounds.
The award is voted on by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association, and voting is conducted after the regular season, prior to the start of the playoffs.
Sullivan was expected to receive serious consideration to win the first Jack Adams of his career. Many outside projections entering the season had the Penguins on the bubble of the competitive East Division's playoff picture, but the Penguins won the division title for the first time since 2013-14, despite a rash of injuries throughout the year.
We can expect to find out how close Sullivan was to being a finalist when the final tallies of the votes are announced after the winner is announced.
Last season, Sullivan finished sixth in the voting with four first-place votes, 15 second-place votes, and 12 third-place votes.
