Net worth

One coach-of-the-year candidate is not like the others Feschuk,

The three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year were announced this week. And one particular candidate is not like the other two.

Of the trio of Calgary’s Darryl Sutter, the New York Rangers’ Gerard Gallant and Florida’s Andrew Brunette, it’s only Brunette who coached a team that did not have the benefit of superior goaltending. That’s a significant differentiator. In the NHL, after all, coaching performances deemed award-worthy often suspiciously coincide with goaltending displays that are also recognized among the league’s best.

The old saying “Show me a good coach and I’ll show you a great goaltender” rings true for a reason. So history tells us it’s probably not a random coincidence that Sutter’s Flames and Gallant’s Rangers employ puck-stoppers who are finalists for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top netminder.

No one’s saying Sutter isn’t an excellent coach, but his job was made decidedly easier thanks to Vezina nominee Jacob Markstrom leading the league in shutouts while finishing fourth in save percentage. Nobody’s saying Gallant didn’t do a fine job, but again: It certainly

didn’t hurt Gallant’s win-loss record that Igor Shesterkin, the runaway favourite to win the Vezina, is also a finalist for the Hart Trophy as league MVP.

Brunette, meanwhile, took over for the scandal-plagued Joel Quenneville seven games into the season and guided the Panthers to their first Presidents’ Trophy. And unlike Sutter and Gallant, he helmed a great season without the benefit of Vezina-worthy puck-stopping. Florida’s goaltenders combined to

finish the regular season ranked a mediocre 15th in team save percentage, this with former Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky putting in an inconsistent season that toggled between spotty and spectacular.

Don’t get it wrong. That’s not necessarily an argument that Brunette did a better coaching job. It’s only to point out that the Jack Adams and great goaltending have been closely linked for years. Last year, when Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour won, maybe it was merely a coincidence that the Hurricanes posted the second-best five-on-five save percentage in the league. The year before that, when Boston’s Bruce Cassidy was voted coach of the year, perhaps it was just by chance that it coincided with Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask finishing second in voting for the Vezina, this while combining with Jaroslav Halak to win the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals.

It goes on. In 2019, Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper was a Jack Adams finalist, and Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy won the Vezina. That same year the Islanders’ Barry Trotz was coach of the year, with Robin Lehner as a Vezina finalist.

In 2018, when Gallant won the award with Vegas, Golden Knights goaltender Marc-André Fleury finished fifth in Vezina voting. And if that year’s link was slightly more tenuous, it followed a couple of closer matches. In 2017, when John Tortorella won coach of the year in Columbus, Bobrovsky won the Vezina. The year before that, when Washington’s Barry Trotz was top coach, Washington’s Braden Holtby won the Vezina.

It raises the obvious question: Is the NHL’s coach of the year simply a bench-roaming bystander of the goaltender of the moment?

Or is the best goaltending in any given season the product of the next-level structure and tactical adjustments only a superior coach can provide?

In some minds, it’s a debate that’s still raging — lately in Vancouver. While Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau was widely credited with revitalizing a once-troubled campaign after he took over for Travis Green in early December, the Canucks haven’t offered a contract extension beyond next season. General manager Jim Rutherford has pointed out that Vancouver’s flaws in defensive structure have put too much pressure on No. 1 goaltender Thatcher Demko — a critique that’s been taken by some as a shot at Boudreau.

“We are very fortunate we have a franchise goalie. I mean, Demko is a terrific goalie,” Rutherford said. “He wins a lot of games for us, and you need that goalie to be a contending team. I want to see us get to a point where we don’t have to lean on him as much, and in as many games, to win those games. So that gets more to the point of getting a little more structure in our game, and getting that structure where it makes it easier for the players to play game in and game out. And Bruce is capable of doing that.”

Even with that vote of confidence, Boudreau has quibbled with the general manager’s take on the situation.

“It’s a point of contention. I agree that we rely on the goalie, but every team relies on their goalie,” Boudreau said. “I sort of pooh-pooh the assessment that your goalie kept you in it and everything … (Demko) was great, but I’ve never seen a team that was any good not have a great goaltender that kept them in it most nights. And you’re gonna see, no matter who ends up winning the Stanley Cup this year, that it’s usually the goalie that ends up being the best player on the ice. We’re lucky to have him, and I’m not going to apologize for having great goaltending.”

If no apology is required, perhaps a little bit of gratitude is in order.

As Boudreau has also pointed out in defending his record, the Canucks were one of the league’s best defensive teams, ranked eighth in goals against. Still, if the goaltender is the last and most important line of defence, Vancouver’s ability to keep the puck out of its net had a lot to do with the Canucks’ goaltenders, chiefly Demko, leading the league in five-on-five save percentage.

Maybe no coach ultimately wins without solid goaltending, but lately almost nobody wins the Jack Adams without something a notch above it. Perhaps Brunette will be the rare bench boss to buck the trend.