Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff, in his third year with the team, was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Trophy on Thursday afternoon.
Mark Stepneski was among the first with the news:
Dallas Stars coach Lindy Ruff is a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, which goes to the NHL’s coach of the year.
— Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) May 5, 2016
Barry Trotz of the Washington Capitals and Gerard Gallant of the Florida Panthers were the other finalists for the award to honor the best coach of the season, which is voted on by the National Hockey League Broadcasters Association. Ruff has won the award before in 2005-06 when he was coach of the Buffalo Sabres. That year, he beat out Peter Laviolette by a single point in the voting.
All three of the finalists coached their teams to the playoffs this season. While the Capitals won the President’s Trophy and were a returning team, both Ruff and Gallant took teams that missed in 2014-15 and led them to the playoffs this season.
Ruff is in the third year of a four-year contract with the Stars after joining the team in the summer of 2013 to replace Glen Gulutzan. He is the first coach to last more than two seasons with the team since Dave Tippett.