Lindy Ruff loses Jack Adams Award to Jon Cooper

Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Back on Dec. 9, the Buffalo Sabres were in last place in the Eastern Conference and third-last place in the NHL overall. The Tampa Bay Lightning were one point out of first place in the Atlantic Division, and actually got into first place for a long period of time after that.

Lindy Ruff's Sabres not only caught the Lightning to win the Atlantic Division, but ended up finishing second in the Eastern Conference behind only the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tampa Bay blew their lead, because it lost three of its four games to the Sabres starting in February, picking up just 2-of-8 points. Meanwhile, the Sabres earned 7-of-8 possible points.

Despite all that, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper won the Jack Adams Award on Wednesday as the NHL's best coach over two deserving candidates - Ruff and Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Muse.

Cooper led his team to that collapse in the Atlantic, allowing the Sabres to catch them, and then lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the fourth-straight season, this time to the Montreal Canadiens.

To be fair, the voting had already been completed by the time the playoffs started.

Ruff led his team to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, and a 30-point improvement from the season before. The Sabres were a Game 7 overtime goal from punching a ticket to the Eastern Conference Final.

Ruff also helped his team play much-improved defense, cutting 47 goals off their goals-against from last year. In the process, the Sabres scored 18 more goals during the 2025-26 campaign.

When you consider Muse, he led the Pens to an 18-point improvement and a playoff berth for the first time in four years.

As for Cooper, his Lightning were just four points better from the 2024-25 campaign.

The award is voted on annually by the NHL Broadcasters' Association. Cooper is very good to the networks, and those broadcasters love him for it. That includes ESPN, TNT, Sportsnet and TSN. He is also good with broadcasters around the league.

This year's voting was nothing more than a popularity contest. There were certainly other years where Cooper deserved the award and didn't get it, but he shouldn't have even been a top-three finalist this season.