When considering who could win the Jack Adams Award this year, it may seem like Kris Knoblauch, coach of the Edmonton Oilers should be considered a guarantee. Coach Knoblauch was hired on November 13 and the team turned themselves around faster than Usain Bolt running the 100m on a bullet train. Since then the Oilers have gone an astounding 26–7 which includes a near record tying 16-game win streak. How could you turn this man away?
Giving out the Jack Adams Award is a tough job though; no one but the team inside the locker room is to tell what kind of a coach a person is, it is difficult to quantify style of play or line combinations in order to compare one to another, and how can you possibly say who motivates their players more? Therefore the only real way to to decide who is leading their team best is to look at points or win percentage. This leads to, most seasons, the award being given out to the team that drastically increases their points from the last season. What happens though, when a coach turns the team around immediately? Surely this signifies that the coach alone was what sparked the improvement.
The partway precedents
There have only been three times that a coach has won the Jack Adams after taking the reins partway through the season. These are their stories:
The first time a coach took over midway through the season and still won the Jack Adams trophy was Bill Barber with the 2000– 2001 Philadelphia Flyers, 38 games in. This was an interesting season as Eric Lindros was not happy with the Flyers management and vice versa, he was a restricted free agent that year but wouldn’t sign with the Flyers, nor would the Flyers trade him. As a result he did not play the entirety of the season. Combined with John Leclairs injury the Flyers were missing two thirds of the famed Legion of Doom: two of their top three scorers from the previous year. They started the year poorly but finished the year fourth in the conference. However the Flyers actually saw their point total drop from the previous year by five points; this is the only non-shortened year since 2000 that a coach won the Jack Adams without increasing the point total.
The second instance of a coach taking over partway through the season and winning the Jack Adams trophy was Bruce Boudreau in 2008 with the Washington Capitals, 21 games in. The Capitals had started the year 6–14–1 when Boudreau was hired and finished the season leading their division and third in the east. The season was marked by Nicklas Backstrom’s impressive 69-point rookie season and by Alex Ovechkins 65-goal, 112-point Hart Trophy year. Though missing an aging but still effective Sergei Federov for most of the year, the Capitals did not see the same adversity as the 2001 Flyers, but they did increase their point total by 24 points.
The third and last time this has happened was Ken Hitchcock with the 2012 St. Louis Blues, only 13 games in. The Blues started the season 6–7–0 and finished second in the conference. The Blues were an interesting team that year as their leading point getters were captain David Backes and T.J. Oshie with only 54 points each. However they broke the NHL record for fewest goals against with 155, earning the goalie tandem of Brian Elliot and Jaroslav Halak the William M. Jennings Trophy. The Blues increased their point total by 22 points that year.
Some other Jack Adams seasons that raise the hackles are Bob Francis of the 2002 Phoenix Coyotes, who only increased the point total by five points, but had an outstanding second half. Dan Bylsma of the 2011 Pittsburgh Penguins, who also increased the point total by five but both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin spent significant time out with injuries. Lastly, Paul MacLean of the 2013 Ottawa Senators who also saw Jason Spezza, Erik Karlsson, and others miss serious time to injury.
Other favourites in the running
Here are some of the other favourites based on projected increase in point totals:
| Coach | Team | Points Last Year | Projected Points | Points Increase |
| Rick Tocchet | Vancouver Canucks | 83 | 120 | 37 |
| John Tortorella | Philadelphia Flyers | 75 | 96 | 21 |
| Paul Maurice | Florida Panthers | 92 | 108 | 16 |
| Rick Bowness | Winnipeg Jets | 95 | 111 | 16 |
| Derek Lalonde | Detroit Red Wings | 80 | 95 | 15 |
| Andre Tourigny | Arizona coyotes | 70 | 84 | 14 |
| Martin St. Louis | Montreal Canadiens | 68 | 82 | 14 |
| Drew Bannister | St. Louis Blues | 81 | 90 | 9 |
| Spencer Carbery | Washington Capitals | 80 | 87 | 7 |
| Kris Knoblauch | Edmonton Oilers | 109 | 105 | -4 |
Could Knoblauch come out on top?
Despite Kris Knoblauch’s impressive body of work, the Oilers sit behind many other teams who have turned their fortunes around. The sobering fact is that, if the Oilers would have broken the record for longest win streak in a season, Knoblauch would have been a serious contender, if not the outright favourite, for the Jack Adams. An important note, however, is that these are only projected point totals and the Oilers have (obviously) played much better hockey recently than they were at the start of the season. If they can continue playing as well as they have they will increase their point total from last year. That, combined with the prompt turnaround after Knoblauch’s hiring and the 16-game winning streak the Oilers crafted this year would make him a viable contender. As it stands now, Rick Tocchet is the man to beat.
