NHL: Making the Case for John Tortorella to Win the Jack Adams Trophy

While the 2012 NHL playoffs are in full force, let's take a step back and examine the performance of New York Rangers' coach John Tortorella this season and whether it's worthy of national recognition.

The 2012 NHL Awards show will be June 20 in Las Vegas and Tortorella, along with St. Louis' Ken Hitchcock and Ottawa's Paul MacLean, are up for the Jack Adams Trophy, which awarded to the coach who contributed most to his team's success during the season.

Ranger fans witnessed first hand just how good a coach Paul MacLean is, as his Ottawa Senators took it to the Blueshirts in a tough, physical series that needed a Game 7 conclusion.

The Blues—after starting the season 6-7 and looking lost—fired their head coach and hired Ken Hitchcock, who transformed St. Louis into a Western Conference powerhouse, finishing 43-15-11 and are currently in the semifinals against the L.A. Kings.

All three gentleman are deserving of the award. But who will ultimately go home with the Jack Adams trophy?

Here's my case for John Tortorella.

Overcoming Distractions

To say the New York Rangers 2011-12 campaign has been full of distractions is a gross understatement.

Try having to figure what team you have in limited action before having to shuffle off to Europe to close out the preseason and begin the regular season by traveling through half of Europe. Not to mention deciding whether fan favorite and polarizing figure Sean Avery had a spot on the team (eventually, Avery was sent to Connecticut for the remainder of the season).

Paul MacLean or Ken Hitchcock didn't have to experience that, or have to prepare his team to have HBO cameras constantly around the team leading up to a nationally-televised Winter Classic game outdoors in Philadelphia on January 2. 

Are you starting to see what I'm getting at?

Out of the three candidates, no one has had more on his plate in terms of distractions and making sure his team stayed focused than John Tortorella.

Through it all, the Rangers finished No. 1 in the East with 109 points. Bear in mind, the Chicago Blackhawks were the last team to start their season in Europe and win the Cup, back in the 2009-10 season.

Consistency

Over an 82-game hockey schedule, the one element a coach will strive for his team to be is consistent. Consistent with effort, output and, above all, to mitigate slumps. There's no possible way an NHL will go through an entire season without hitting a rough patch or two.

Not only did the Rangers mitigate slumps, they were nearly perfect in that regard. Only two times during the entire season did the Rangers lose three games in a row, from October 7-15 to open the season and March 6-9, with the latter being the only time all three games ended in regulation (the first two games of the season ended in OT).

New York did not have a losing streak longer than three games all season long. That's a testament to Tortorella demanding consistent effort and getting the most out of his players.

Dealing with Injuries

Every team deals with injuries during a season—there's no escaping losing players at any given moment. It's how you handle injuries that shows the mark of a good, or bad, team.

New York was without Marc Staal—arguably the team's best defenseman last season—until the Winter Classic. Michael Sauer has been out with a concussion since December 5 after a huge hit by Toronto's Dion Phaneuf and has been shut down for the season. Mats Zuccarello, who looked like a missing piece to the team's power play, is out with a broken wrist.

In particular, losing two key members of your defense for long stretches can be crippling. The Rangers overcame those obstacles thanks to Tortorella's coaching and the development of young players.

His Demeanor Fits the Team

Part of the job of a head coach is to instill confidence in your team, especially when you hit struggles. Sure, fans love it when a head coach shows emotion after a tough loss to the media because they can empathize. 

What does that do for the team, though?

Screaming, getting loud or showing emotion is for the locker room. A team, however, can take the coach's words to the media as a message. It's a matter of pushing the right buttons.

John Tortorella knows how to push the right buttons at the right moments.

Take Game 5 in the Ottawa series as an example. Instead of panicking with his team up against a wall after losing on home ice and down 3-2, Tortorella expressed the utmost confidence in his team's abilities to win the next two games and take the series.

The Rangers did just that, energized by the coach's conviction to what he believes his team is capable of.

A team will feed off their head coach and how they handle themselves. While he may come off as an old grouch sometimes, John Tortorella is well-versed in how to come off to the media and deliver the right message.