After leading the Dallas Stars to the second-best record in hockey in the regular season, coach Lindy Ruff has been named a finalist for the 2016 Jack Adams Award, recognizing the coach of the year in the NHL.
Ruff is joined by Florida Panthers coach Gerard Gallant and the Washington Capitals coach Barry Trotz. (For what it’s worth, the Caps were the team that beat the Stars out for the best record in the NHL.) The winner will be announced June 22 in Las Vegas, at the NHL Awards.
In his third season with the team, Ruff took the Stars from 10th to 1st in the Western Conference.
“It's very well deserved," said Stars general manager Jim Nill, per the Dallas Morning News. "You look where we came from a year ago, missing the playoffs to first overall in the Western Conference and second overall in the league. We talked about how we had to be better within our division, we had to be better at home, we had to better defensively. He checked every thing off the list this season.”
