Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter has won the 2022 Jack Adams Award, given to the coach of the year. It’s the first time in his illustrious career that he’s won the award.
Beating out finalists Andrew Brunette (Florida Panthers) and Gerard Gallant (New York Rangers), Sutter is in the second year of his second stint as head coach of the Flames. In 112 games since stepping back behind the Flames bench, Sutter’s guided the team to a 65-36-11 record, including a Pacific Division title this year. This year’s 50-win campaign was the first such season for Calgary since 2018-19, when the team lost in the first round. The team’s .677 points percentage this season, though, is the best since the team won the Stanley Cup in 1988-89. Despite bowing out in the second round to the Edmonton Oilers, Sutter created a deep, hard-working team out of players who largely underperformed last season in the COVID-shortened year.
Per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, Sutter had 54 first-place votes for the award. Brunette had 31, while Gallant had 12. Other coaches receiving first-place votes were Minnesota’s Dean Evason (seven), Colorado’s Jared Bednar (six), Los Angeles’ Todd McLellan (five), Carolina’s 2021 winner Rod Brind’Amour (two), Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan (two), Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper (one), and Nashville’s John Hynes (one).
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