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The National Hockey League announced the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award. Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, Colorado Avalanche coach Patrick Roy, and Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper were announced as finalists Tuesday.

 

The Jack Adams Award is presented to the head coach that contributed the most to his team’s success. Members of the NHL Broadcasters Association submitted ballots for the Jack Adams Award. The award is based on regular season results. The winner will be announced on June 24th at the 2014 NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas.

 

Patrick Roy, Colorado Avalanche

 

In his first year of NHL coaching, the former NHL goalie surprised many. Roy guided the Avalanche to a 52-22-8 finish. The 112 points was third overall in the NHL and won the Central Division Title. This is a drastic change from a 29th place finish last season. This was the highest Avalanche win total of all-time.

 

 

Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning

 

In his first full season as coach of the Lightning, Cooper led the team to a 101 point finish. The Lightning 46-27-9 record was good enough to clinch a second place finish in the Atlantic Division. The Lightning finished just one place higher than the Avalanche last year with a 28th place overall finish. They turned that around to finish 8th overall in the NHL this season. Cooper led the Lightning’s AHL affiliate in Norfolk to a Calder Cup Championship in 2012. Cooper helped turn a huge corner in Tampa Bay this season. After battling through injuries for much of the year the Lightning found a way to put up points on a nightly basis.

 

Mike Babcock, Detroit Red Wings

 

Babcock led the Red Wings to a 39-28-15 record this season. Seems good, but not great. Well the Red Wings were devastated by injuries all season. The lost 421 man games to injury, and many of the injured were stars such as Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg. The team used 38 players during the regular season. Through all this, Babcock led the Wings to their 23rd consecutive Stanley Cup Playoff berth.

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