Following a 3rd-place finish in the Atlantic Division and a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis found himself in elite territory as he finished fifth in voting for the Jack Adams Award -- awarded to the NHL head coach who is "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success."
The Hockey Hall of Fame player, who finished 3rd in voting in the 2024-25 season, faced numerous up-and-down moments throughout the 106-game season they recently completed. St. Louis has done a fantastic job so far at developing his young core into stars and showing them what it means to be professional hockey players.
Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper ended up taking home the trophy -- surprisingly for the first time in his accomplished coaching career. The Bolts finished second in the Atlantic with a 50-26-6 record, but, as we know, were defeated in seven games in the first round of the playoffs by the Habs. Cooper was also the head coach of the silver-medalist Canadian Olympic team this past February in Milano Cortina.
Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres and Dan Muse of the Pittsburgh Penguins finished second and third in voting, while Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche finished just ahead of St. Louis, respectively. Ruff finished just 3 points behind Cooper, while our powerhouse mentor received 4 first-place votes, 7 second place votes, and 9 third-place votes.
Martin St. Louis would be the third Montreal Canadiens head coach to win the award if he does
Inaugurated in the 1973-74 NHL season, only two Canadiens head coaches have won the Jack Adams Award: Hall of Fame legend Scotty Bowman in 1976-77, and most recently Pat Burns all the way back in 1988-89.
With the offseason officially underway, there are bound to be some roster moves in the summer that St. Louis will have to cope with to prepare for next October. His tenure seems to just be getting started, and there is little doubt that we will see him in a top-3 finish in the next few years. A fifth-place finish is nothing to hang your head low about, but it will be how St. Louis and the Montreal Canadiens respond after a final four finish this past season.
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