10 Best NHL Coaches of the Past 20 Years. His scowl can melt faces.He started his head coaching in 2002-03, when he led the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim to the Stanley Cup Finals, eventually losing in seven games to Pat Burns' Devils.Post-lockout, he took over as head of the Detroit Red Wings, where he has enjoyed perennial success. While he has yet to take home the trophy, it feels like it's just a matter of time.I was surprised to see that Hitchcock hasn't won a Jack Adams Award. Nonetheless, that's what I've tried here.Based on a combination of regular and postseason success, awards and overall effectiveness, here are the 10 best coaches of the past 20 seasons.What he lacks in playoff success, he makes up for in longevity. They got swept, of course, but hey, they're still the Blue Jackets.While in Columbus, he also oversaw Rick Nash's development. Though the team's postseason ended on a sour note (in overtime of Game 7 of the conference finals against its most hated rival, the Rangers), Lemaire took home the Jack Adams Award.The next season, he coached the Devils to a Stanley Cup.Some fault Lemaire for his defense-oriented coaching style.
NHL stats leaders between 2010-2011 and 2019-2020 seasons. He won the Jack Adams.He coached Boston into the new millennium and eventually became head coach of the New Jersey Devils for the 2002-03 season, where he won his first and only Stanley Cup.Let me just emphasize those last paragraphs: He coached four teams, and in his first year with each team, he won either the Jack Adams or a Cup. Nonetheless, the Bruins are a well-coached team.Before Boston, Julien coached Montreal for three seasons, and New Jersey for one, enjoying mild but not overwhelming success.Since joining Boston, Julien has turned the B's into a top-tier team, winning 179 games over four seasons. In just their third season, the Wild made the playoffs and upset their way to the conference finals, despite not really having any quality players besides Marian Gaborik.He stuck with the Wild for most of the decade, before returning to the Devils for the 2009-10 season, after which he retired.The next season, he un-retired and regained control of the Devils for the second half of the Devils' 2010-11 season, where he led a brilliant late-season surge (which of course fell short because the Devils were awful in the first half of last year).Among other qualities, Lemaire is great with developing players. Under his tutelage, the team went to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals, winning in 2007-08 and losing in Game 7 the following year.The Red Wings seem to always be near the top of the standings. Updated daily with news and features from over 130 writers worldwide. Plus, on-ice success can lead to lower draft positioning, theoretically – particularly in early rounds – making it less likely to find NHL-calibre players. Fortunately for the teams involved, there are some who are even worse.Yes, the Canucks were a top contender for a number of years this past decade but so were the Kings and Blackhawks, and they’ve both done reasonably well, draft-wise. Yeah, he's that good.After two winning seasons with the Islanders (an achievement in and of itself), Laviolette took over for the Carolina Hurricanes. The Preds are not a team that get big free agents: They don't attract big names, and they don't pay huge sums for stars.But thanks to Trotz, Nashville became relevant much earlier than it could have. At the end of the '90s, he led the Stars to back-to-back finals appearances, winning the Cup in 1999.He then spent three successful seasons in Philly, where he won a combined 130 games. (Founded in 2009, The Hockey Writers is a premier destination for news and information on everything hockey. The worst NHL team during the period? In a cruel twist of fate, Hitchcock was fired just four months after Nash signed an eight-year extension.For a more recent example of his abilities, look at where the St. Louis Blues currently stand. A decade’s worth of good fortune (or lack thereof)?Starting Jun. The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario.They are members of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) and are known as one of the Original Six teams of the league. They've had winning seasons every year since, and have missed the playoffs only once in that time. Most recently, his In his first year as a head coach, he won the Jack Adams Award for coaching the Canadiens to the Stanley Cup Finals. Record wise the best NHL team ever is the 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings. All-time Points Leader: Mats Sundin, 987 Toronto Maple Leafs Won-Loss Records. 9, 1997. Trotz was named a finalist for the Jack Adams in 2010. He was awarded the Vezina Trophy last year for being the best goaltender in the league. He popularized the neutral-zone trap, which some blame for a decrease in the In 2000-01, Lemaire became the Minnesota Wild's first coach. Los Angeles Rams: 64-79-1 Regular-season record (.448) That is, simply put, astounding.-The 1991-92 Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins.-The 1995-96 Jack Adams Award with the Detroit Red Wings. And yes, regardless of personnel and positioning, drafting is a decidedly inexact science, to say nothing of the development of said draft picks.However, it’s still interesting to look at organisational draft histories, and to speculate on what exactly might be fuelling a team’s success, failure or abject mediocrity. They also finished just one point shy of the all-time record (a record Bowman set with the Canadiens 19 years earlier).-Back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1996-97 and 97-98.