How Bob Hartley won the 2015 Jack Adams Award

Should Bob Hartley have won the 2015 Jack Adams Award for leading the Calgary Flames to the playoffs?

Well, he did win it, so the point is a bit moot. But the bottom line is that there were several candidates that could have staked a claim to the award, and Hartley was as deserving as any of them.

Well, except for Peter Laviolette, who should have won for turning around the Nashville Predators and leading them to the top of their division. But hey, he was good early in the season, and the Flames were really good late in the season during the voting, so…

Hartley was a top-three selection on 63 of the 75 ballots cast, including 37 first-place votes, for 237 voting points. The Jack Adams win is a first both for Hartley and for the Flames franchise.

Hartley led the Flames (45-30-7, 97 points) to a 20-point gain in standings points over 2013-14, the highest jump among Western Conference teams and third-highest in the League overall, in capturing their first playoff berth since 2009. Calgary was among the NHL’s best late-game teams, tying for first place in overtime wins (nine), ranking second in third-period goal differential (+31), third in wins when trailing after two periods (10) and fifth in points percentage when leading after 40 minutes (.923, 24-1-1). The Flames also recorded 1,557 blocked shots, tops in the League and the highest single-season total since the statistic was introduced.

Here’s how the votes broke down: