Trophy Tracker: Jack Adams

To mark the quarter point of the 2021-22 regular season, NHL.com is running its second installment of the Trophy Tracker series this week. Today, we look at the race for the Jack Adams Award, given annually to the top coach in the NHL as selected in a vote by the NHL Broadcasters' Association.

Rod Brind'Amour has proven adept at pushing the right buttons for the Carolina Hurricanes, first as a player and now as their coach.
The winner of the Jack Adams Award last season, Brind'Amour's work so far this season convinced a panel of 17 NHL.com writers to select him as the favorite to win it again. He received 63 points, including 10 first-place votes. Darryl Sutter of the Calgary Flames was second with 52 points (two first-place votes) and Dallas Eakins of the Anaheim Ducks was third with 42 points (four first-place votes). Peter Laviolette of the Washington Capitals also received a first-place vote.
With Brind'Amour's leadership, the Hurricanes have established themselves as an elite NHL team. They started 9-0-0, a new Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers record, and tied the 2015-16 Montreal Canadiens for the second-longest winning streak to begin a season in NHL history behind the 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres and 1993-94 Toronto Maple Leafs (10 each). They were 14-2-1 on Nov. 24, the most wins and points (29) through the first 17 games of a season in their history and had an NHL-best .853 points percentage.
RELATED: [Trophy Tracker: Calder]
The Hurricanes (15-4-1) are second in the Metropolitan Division with 31 points, two behind the Washington Capitals. Six skaters have scored at least 10 points, with Sebastian Aho (10 goals, 10 assists) and Andrei Svechnikov (eight goals, 12 assists) leading them with 20 points. Goalie Frederik Andersen is 11-4-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and one shutout in 15 games.
"I push them, there's no question about it," Brind'Amour said after a 4-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Nov. 16. "You always kind of wonder, at what point are they going to go wild? I've been doing it this way for three years and I think the guys get that it's successful. If we play hard every night, we have a real good chance to win. And if you play it right, which is playing the systems and all that, it really ups your ante on your chances to win. I think there's a real good belief in that, and I think it's showing."
Brind'Amour guided Carolina to first place in the Discover Central Division last season (36-12-8). Since he was named coach May 8, 2018 after eight seasons as an assistant and development coach, the Hurricanes have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs three consecutive seasons, including reaching the 2019 Eastern Conference Final. Carolina had missed the playoffs nine straight seasons before Brind'Amour took over.
The work ethic Brind'Amour displayed throughout his 20-season NHL playing career has manifested as a coach. He played for the Philadelphia Flyers in the 1997 Stanley Cup Final, a four-game loss to the Detroit Red Wings, and a Flyers record 484 consecutive games. He twice played for the Hurricanes in the Final, the first a five-game loss to the Red Wings in 2002. He was captain when the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 2006.
On June 17, the day Brind'Amour was revealed as the winner of the Jack Adams Award, he agreed to a three-year contract extension, part of an aggressive offseason that saw the Hurricanes sign goalies Andersen and Antti Raanta, defenseman Tony DeAngelo and center Derek Stepan.
The ability to jell quickly was the biggest surprise to general manager Don Waddell, and he credited Brind'Amour for that.
"When you talk about, what is it, seven new guys in the lineup on a regular basis?" Waddell said in remarks published by The Athletic on Nov. 11. "When you make that many changes, you always worry about how players are going to adapt to it, but I think everybody's bought into the system that we play, that Rod plays."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis): Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes 63 points (10 first-place votes); Darryl Sutter, Calgary Flames, 52 (two); Dallas Eakins, Anaheim Ducks, 42 (four); Gerard Gallant, New York Rangers, 22; Dave Tippett, Edmonton Oilers, 20; Dean Evason, Minnesota Wild, 14; Peter Laviolette, Washington Capitals, 13 (one); Brad Larsen, Columbus Blue Jackets, 9; Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning, 6; Paul Maurice, Winnipeg Jets, 4; Lindy Ruff, New Jersey Devils, 3; Andrew Brunette, Florida Panthers, 3; Jeff Blashill, Detroit Red Wings, 2; Mike Sullivan, Pittsburgh Penguins, 1; Todd McLellan, Los Angeles Kings, 1