When the Boston Bruins hired Marco Sturm as their next head coach last June, he knew what he was walking into. He was walking in times changing with the Bruins, who were going through a retool. They were coming off a season where they finished tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with the Philadelphia Flyers and traded away several key players.
It was seen as a retool that was going to take some time to turn things around. The 2025-26 season was going to be another season where Boston likely missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, they ended up being a team that defied the odds.
Boston had a big season that was a turnaround that not many people saw coming, but one that got them 100 points in the standings and the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. They enter Friday night's Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres at the TD Garden looking to stave off elimination for a second straight game. On Friday afternoon, the NHL released the finalists for the Jack Adams Award, and Sturm was snubbed from being a deserving finalist.
Bruins coach Marco Sturm snubbed from being a Jack Awads Award finalist
The Jack Adams Award, which is presented to the NHL coach judged to have contributed the most to his team's success, has finalists Dan Muse of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo Sabres. Sturm was missing from the list, and honestly, it's a snub.
Jon Cooper, Dan Muse, and Lindy Ruff are the finalists for the Jack Adams Award! 👏 #NHLAwards
— NHL (@NHL) May 1, 2026
The Jack Adams Award is presented annually to the NHL coach adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success. pic.twitter.com/cBmlUO184C
Muse and Ruff are more than deserving to be a finalist, and truth be told, if Ruff doesn't win, well then I don't know what we're doing with the award. However, Cooper being a finalist over Sturm and Rock Tocchet of the Philadelphia Flyers is certainly a choice by the voters.
Tampa Bay is year in and year out a contender. They are dealing with injuries this season, but is anyone surprised they are where they finished? Sturm and Tocchet took over positions that seemed to be at least a year away from contending and got them into the postseason.
Success from year to year is not guaranteed, but who saw this season coming from Boston?
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