Brind’Amour wins Jack Adams as NHL coach of the year

It’s a good day to be Rod Brind’Amour. This morning, the Hurricanes announced a three-year contract extension with their coach. This evening, he was named the Jack Adams Award Winner as the NHL’s coach of the year for the 2021 season.

Brind’Amour won the Award over fellow finalists Dean Evason (Minnesota Wild) and Joel Quennneville (Florida Panthers), and it wasn’t particularly close.

In typical fashion, the Canes’ head coach was quick to credit those around him for their role in his success.

“This award really just feels to me like such an organizational award, because it just is,” Brind’Amour said. “There’s no way around it. We’ve got great people working here with me to help me, with the staff, everything, the players. I almost think the better question is how do you not win it when you have what I get to work with every day. ... It’s a great day for me personally, but really for the organization, I think, to get recognized this way.”

This past season, Brind’Amour led the Hurricanes to a 36-12-8 record and, the highest points percentage in franchise history (.714) and first division title since 2005-06. He’s the first head coach in franchise history to win the Jack Adams Award.

“It’s an honor to even be considered,” Brind’Amour said. “Even this year with Joel and his experience and everything he’s done in his career, and then Dean’s done a great job starting fresh there. It’s a great honor.”

Since taking over as head coach prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, Brind’Amour has played a key role in the Hurricanes’ transformation from perennial afterthoughts to cup contenders, and is being honored for his work in guiding the Hurricanes through an array of difficult circumstances to their best regular season in franchise history.

“You say I won, but I just feel like we won,” Brind’Amour said. “... It’s a good day for our organization, because to me, what it says is we’re doing some things right.”