To mark the conclusion of the 2023-24 regular season, NHL.com is running its fifth and final 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.
Rick Tocchet is the favorite to win the Jack Adams Award, and the Vancouver Canucks coach led the Trophy Tracker series from the first quarter to the end of the season.
It's easy to deduce why Tocchet received 62 voting points and 10 for first place by a panel of 15 NHL.com voters, commanding leads over Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators (30 votes, one for first) and Kris Knoblauch of the Edmonton Oilers (21). The Canucks (49-22-9) are experiencing a revival, led by Tocchet, who is 69-34-13 with Vancouver and going to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after previously guiding the Tampa Bay Lightning and Arizona Coyotes (178-200-60).
"He knows what buttons to press," forward Dakota Joshua said Friday. "Behind closed doors, his 1-on-1 conversations are very direct and there's no second-guessing once you leave a meeting with him of what is expected.
"There's no gray area; you know what you did wrong, what you need to work on or what you've done well. That goes a long way with the players, knowing that you're getting a straight shot at what needs to be fixed."
The Canucks are playoff bound for the first time following an 82-game regular season since 2014-15. They have 10 players in double-digit goals, led by forward Brock Boeser's NHL career-high 40. Quinn Hughes leads NHL defensemen with 91 points, is plus-39 and his 74 assists are a team record at the position. Vancouver is an NHL-best plus-36 in the first period, one better than the best goal differential in team history (2011-12).
The players are held accountable through prosperity and recession, whether it was a 12-3-1 start, a season-long four-game losing streak from Feb. 17-22 or a late 3-4-1 slide the Pacific Division-leaders halted with a 3-1 win against the second-place Oilers on Saturday.
"He pushes you to be your best every day," defenseman Tyler Myers said. "You could be going through a very good stretch, and he'll come talk to you about something he sees that he thinks you or the team can do better. That accountability really sets the standard for each guy and the group, and I think it pushes everyone to be their best every game. It doesn't allow you to relax, and I think that's good for us."
It's been nine years since Vancouver hosted a playoff game; the 2019-20 team advanced to the Western Conference Second Round, a seven-game loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in the Edmonton bubble because of the COVID-19 pandemic. After finishing no higher than fifth in seven non-playoff seasons, the Canucks are 24 points better than last season and were the first Canada-based team to clinch a playoff berth March 30. They've held first place in the division for 117 consecutive days since Dec. 21 and could have their largest year-over-year point improvement since 25 points from 1998-99 to 1999-00.
They've come further, faster than the most optimistic projections and have a chance to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since joining the NHL for the 1970-71 season. The next test, five days before the start of the playoffs, is psychological.
"Once you clinch, sometimes players take their foot off the gas a bit," Tocchet said April 11, one day after a 4-3 overtime loss at home to the Coyotes. "The good teams that play down the stretch usually are successful in the playoffs. That's my message to the players, to make sure we keep this thing going and our habits, and stuff like that, because it's hard to just turn it on and off.
"If you go day to day, it calms everybody down, I think."
Voting totals (points awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1- basis):
Rick Tocchet, Canucks, 62 votes (10 first-place votes); Andrew Brunette, Predators, 30 votes (one); Kris Knoblauch, Oilers, 21 votes; Peter Laviolette, New York Rangers, 19 votes; John Tortorella, Philadelphia Flyers, 17 votes (one); Jim Montgomery, Boston Bruins, 15 votes (one); Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers, 15 votes (1); Pete DeBoer, Dallas Stars, 11 votes (one); Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning, 11 votes; Rick Bowness, Winnipeg Jets, 10; Mike Sullivan, Pittsburgh Penguins, 3, Rod Brind'Amour, Carolina Hurricanes, 1.
NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report
