PITTSBURGH (93.7 the Fan) The NHL finished their run of announcing their annual awards nominations with the unveiling of the Jack Adam’s Award nominees.
The Jack Adam’s Award is awarded every year to the NHL’s top head coach; This year’s nominees are Carolina Hurricanes’ Rod Brind’Amour, Minnesota Wild’s Dean Evason, and Florida Panthers’ Joel Quenneville.
Not nominated: Pittsburgh Penguins’ head coach Mike Sullivan.
It’s a tragedy Sullivan wasn’t nominated.
Awards don’t mean everything, especially when the team couldn’t make it past the first round for the third year in a row, but this was a nomination Sullivan deserved.
At the start of the season, pundits were all over the Pens for being past their prime in the hardest division in the league.
Not only were they battling in the toughest division in the league, they were again fighting through injuries to the entire lineup.
From the defensemen at the beginning of the season to most of the forwards at the end, only Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel played in each of the 56 games this season.
Not only did the Pens battle through injuries, a general manager quitting early in the season, and playing good teams like the Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, or the team that beat them in the playoffs the New York Islanders, they finished first in the division.
People didn’t have them being a top four or even five team in the division, but they fought through adversity and came out on top.
A lot of the team’s regular season success is based from the work of Mike Sullivan.
But he get’s the short end of the stick and doesn’t receive a nomination for coach of the year, shame.