Sutter shrugs off Jack Adams Award nomination

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If given the opportunity to vote for the Jack Adams Award, Darryl Sutter would not vote for himself.

The National Hockey League announced the three finalists for the award, presented annually to the coach of the year, on Thursday. Sutter is up against Gerard Gallant of the New York Rangers and Andrew Brunette of the Florida Panthers.

“The way I look at it, I don’t need that on my resume,” Sutter said. “Some guys do. So, I’d rather see young guys win it, or guys that maybe got a raw deal somewhere, a guy like Gerard [Gallant]. He got a raw deal in Florida. He got a raw deal in Vegas. If I had a vote, I know who I’d vote for.”

Despite the honour (the two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Los Angeles Kings has never won the Jack Adams but was a finalist in 2004 during his first stint with the Flames), Sutter downplayed the nomination – instead saying he’d rather his team win the William M. Jennings Trophy for fewest goals against.

“It’s not for the best coach, first of all,” he said. “If the coaches voted for the best coach every year, you’d see quite a bit different of a list for the past 15 years.”

The Flames rehired Sutter in March 2021 after a season that began with great expectations under Geoff Ward quickly went off the rails. While fans were hopeful that bringing Sutter back would lead to the team making the playoffs that spring, Sutter always had the longer view, readily admitting that he did not think that group would make a run for a postseason berth (they ultimately did not qualify).

Instead, Sutter focused on building good habits and increasing professionalism and expectations.

“You have to have a foundation of accountability and checking and, at the same time, there still has to be freedom