Trotz Wins Jack Adams Award

New York Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz was awarded the 2019 Jack Adams Award, given annually to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success. The winner was selected in a poll, among members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association at the end of the regular season.

Trotz is the second New York Islanders Head Coach to ever win the award, joining Al Arbour (1978-79). The Dauphin, Manitoba native joins Jacques Demers, Pat Quinn, Scotty Bowman, Pat Burns, Jacques Lemaire and John Tortorella as the only NHL Head Coaches to win the award. In his first season with the Islanders, Trotz led the club to a 103-point campaign, their highest point total since the 1983-84 season (104 points). The Islanders' fourth-place Eastern Conference ranking was their best finish since the conference was created (1993), while their fifth-place finish in the overall NHL standings marked their first top-5 ranking since 1985-86.

Trotz's club gave up the fewest goals of any team in 2018-19, just one year after the Islanders allowed the most in the league. He moved into fourth place on the NHL's all-time wins list during his first season on Long Island, passing Arbour on the list with his 783rd career victory on December 31 against the Buffalo Sabres. Trotz finished the 2018-19 season with 810 career regular-season wins.
Prior to joining the Islanders, Trotz spent the previous four seasons as the Head Coach of the Washington Capitals. During his tenure in Washington, Trotz led the Capitals to two consecutive Presidents Trophies (2015-16 and 2016-17) and won the franchise's first Stanley Cup (2017-18). He was awarded the Jack Adams Trophy in 2015-16.
Trotz spent 15 seasons as Head Coach of the Nashville Predators prior to his time in Washington. He ranks third all-time in NHL history in both games coached (1,196) and wins (557) with a single franchise.

Prior to joining the Predators, Trotz spent five seasons (1992-97) coaching the Baltimore Skipjacks, the Capitals' American Hockey League affiliate. The franchise relocated to Portland, Maine in 1993 and he led the Portland Pirates to two Calder Cup Finals appearances over the next four seasons. In 1994-95, Trotz coached Portland to a Calder Cup Championship and a league-best record of 43-27-10. He was named the AHL Coach of the Year that same season.
On the international stage, Trotz served as an Assistant Coach for Team Canada at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and at the IIHF World Championships on four occasions, most recently at the 2013 tournament in Stockholm, Sweden, and Helsinki, Finland. In 2003, he helped Team Canada win gold in Finland, and in 2009, he helped guide Canada to a silver medal in Switzerland.