When it comes to handicapping the Jack Adams Award, nothing beats novelty.
It’s rare that a coach wins the award more than once with the same team. Even rarer is for a coach to win after he’s already hoisted the Stanley Cup.
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In other words, don’t bet on defending Cup winner Jared Bednar of the Colorado Avalanche (the 7-to-1 favourite, according to BetOnline.ag) or Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour (9-to-1), who won the award two years ago, on being named coach of the year.
Not when both are returning to teams expected to go deep in the playoffs. After all, this has traditionally been a trophy that rewards the overachievers, as well as new faces.
This year, there could be plenty of both to go around.
The best bets might be Detroit’s rookie coach Derek Lalonde (12-to-1), who will get a lot of love if he can snap the Red Wings’ six-year playoff drought, or Buffalo’s Don Granato (25-to-1), who is trying to get the Sabres into the playoffs for the first time since 2011.
— Michael Traikos, Postmedia