Barry Trotz Jack Adams Award Finalist
By Buddy Oakes
The only coach that the Nashville Predators have ever known, has finally been recognized for 12 years of pulling rabbits out of his hat. And for consistently exceeding everyone's expectations with the limited talent that he has had on a yearly basis.Trotz is one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award given to the coach who has "contributed the most to his team's success."
Dave Tippett of Phoenix and Joe Sacco of Colorado also received nominations.
The winner will be announced June 23 at the NHL Awards show at the Palms in Las Vegas.
Trotz has been deserving of consideration for several years. Even with Pred’s recent playoff loss, it should be satisfying for Trotz, the organization, and the fans to see Barry on the national stage as a top three coach.
The NHL Broadcasters’ association nominates candidates for the Jack Adams Award at the end of the regular season and the top three vote-getters are the finalists.
Trotz led the Predators to the playoffs for the fifth time in the last six seasons this year. The Preds surpassed all hopes going 47-29-6 for a total of 100 points, and finished seventh in the tough Western Conference.
The team was at its best down the stretch going 14-6-1 after the Olympic break.
Speaking on NHL Live today after the announcement, Trotz said, "I was a little surprised by the nomination. All three finalists have great assistants and staffs."
He also commented on the series with Chicago. "This team had the mindset for an upset. Our team has matured and had the ability to go further. Our young leadership group matured and is ready to move forward. Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Pekka Rinne, they were all key"
Trotz went on to discuss the issues with the Predator’s power play. "We were stubborn in making changes. On the power play you have four portals of opportunity and we did not execute on them."
On Pekka Rinne, "Pekka is emerging into a top end goaltender. His being able to recover from situations has really been key. In game five and in game six with the odd goal he was able to come back and in the past, he may not have been able to."
On Jason Arnott as captain, "Jason has matured and done a good job but still has some areas that he needs to work on as anyone would in a situation that he's not completely comfortable with."
Looking to off-season changes, Trotz listed keeping Dan Hamhuis, improvement on face offs, and finding additional offense as key goals.
When asked who would be the eventual cup winner, Trotz would not commit to a specific team, but said that the winner would come from the west.
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