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Jon Cooper and the Tampa Bay Lightning had a solid season.
Cooper has been a great coach for a long time, too.
But did he deserve to win the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top coach for the entire season?
It sure is easy to make the case that the award belonged to Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff.
The Sabres were in last place in the Eastern Conference on Dec. 8, then went on to have the second-most points in the East and make the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.
I could hear an argument for Dan Muse, but no idea how Jon Cooper won this
Completely choked away the division. Sabres had injuries too, were dealing with the plague until January
Ruff deserved this one. Just a crazy snub
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Some might question with every team how much the head coach actually matters relative to the front office and the players.
But it's hard to look at the Sabres and think Ruff didn't do plenty to deserve this award.
With Jon Cooper winning the Jack Adams Award over Lindy Ruff, Schopp raises the question of whom the voters are giving credit to for the Sabres' turnaround this season. #Sabres #NHL pic.twitter.com/TSBbhdqxf1
— WGR 550 (@WGR550) June 3, 2026MORE: Canucks make Gavin McKenna decision that Maple Leafs, Sharks don't make
The other reality here is that it doesn't really matter. Ruff surely isn't losing sleep over this. He'd probably congratulate Cooper graciously.
But in Buffalo, Ruff led the Sabres to the kind of season they hadn't had in more than a decade, and he did it by helping them out of the absolute dumps in early December.
It's tough to make a case for Coach of the Year that beats that.
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