Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis overlooked for Jack Adams Award as Jon Cooper named finalist

Martin St-Louis just received bad news a few hours before Game 6 against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Canadiens head coach was not named among the finalists for the Jack Adams Award this season.

He was completely overlooked—and there’s a rather ironic element to it.

Lindy Ruff (Buffalo) and Dan Muse (Pittsburgh) complete the list of nominees.

The announcement has just been made and is already making waves in Montreal.

For the Canadiens head coach, it’s a turnaround compared to last year.

The NHL snub could serve as extra motivation for Martin St-Louis tonight against Jon Cooper’s Lightning

Last year, St-Louis was named a finalist for Coach of the Year.

This season, despite making the playoffs and recording 106 points in the standings, he has been completely left out of the conversation.

That’s often how it works with this award.

Last year, seeing the Canadiens make the playoffs was a major surprise.

This year, the team had been expected to be in the playoff picture for quite some time.

The Penguins qualified without anyone really seeing it coming.

Lindy Ruff in Buffalo will likely win the award, having completely transformed a team that had been going nowhere for years.

And let’s be honest—his former general manager would probably have been named GM of the Year if Buffalo had kept him in the role.

As for Cooper, he has long been respected around the league.

Seeing him named a finalist while his team is on the brink of elimination tonight—that’s the full irony of the situation.

But it takes nothing away from the job St-Louis has done this season behind the Canadiens bench.

At the end of the day, what Martin St-Louis wants tonight is simple: to win the game.

Not a trophy. Not recognition. A win that sends his team to the second round.

And, incidentally, one that eliminates Jon Cooper—the Jack Adams finalist—before 21,105 fired-up fans.

That’s what matters tonight at the Bell Centre.