Gallant named finalist for coach of year
Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant is one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL coach of the year, the league announced Wednesday.
Colorado’s Jared Bednar and Boston’s Bruce Cassidy are the other finalists. The winner will be revealed at the NHL Awards show June 20 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Gallant guided the Knights to 51 wins and the Pacific Division title. The Knights are the first modern-era expansion team from any of the four North American professional sports leagues to win its division in its inaugural season (excluding mergers and all-expansion divisions), according to Elias Sports Bureau.
“I’m honored, actually.” Gallant said.
“It’s a coaching award for our whole staff. My assistant coaches, and goalie coach and video coach did an outstanding job.
It’s an honor, but it’s our whole staff.”
This is the second time in Gallant’s career he has been a finalist for the Jack Adams. He finished second in 2016 after leading Florida to the Atlantic Division crown.
David Schoen
in the first round. They get the No. 2 short-handed team in the semifinals.
“From the little bit I’ve watched San Jose right now, they’re very aggressive,” Gallant said. “L.A. is aggressive, too, but San Jose pushes you hard and they make you make mistakes.”
The Sharks successfully killed penalties at an 84.8 percent clip during the regular season and are eighth in the postseason at 83.3 percent (10for-12).
The Knights, meanwhile, lead the postseason in penalty killing at 92.3 percent (12-for-13).
“It does become more important as the playoffs go on that you win the special teams battle,” Deboer said. “I think both teams take a lot of pride in those areas, so it should be a good test.”
4. Fourth dimension.
After playing a major factor in the series against Los Angeles, Gallant was asked whether he had the best fourth line in the NHL. He danced around the question, and part of the reason might be San Jose’s fourth line.
Ironically, the Sharks entered the season with a gaping hole on their fourth line at center that Ryan Carpenter was unable to fill before he was placed on waivers and claimed by the Knights in December.
The addition of veteran Eric Fehr at the trade deadline solidified that spot, and San Jose’s fourth line produced four goals in the first round, including three from Marcus Sorensen.
“I think these guys, they can score some goals,” Gallant said. “Their fourth line obviously played really well last series, and (Deboer) relies on them a lot. They play, they’ve got some speed, they’ve got some quickness and they scored some big goals for them in the last series.”
5. Fear the beard.
Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, who played Game 4 against the Ducks after he missed the final 10 minutes of Game 3, practiced this week and is expected to be ready for the series opener.
Anaheim focused on Burns after he dominated in Game 1, and the Sharks forwards feasted on the extra attention given to the 2017 Norris Trophy winner the rest of the series.
Burns led San Jose in scoring during the regular season with 67 points and had five points (two goals, three assists) in four games against the Knights.
“That’s nothing that we haven’t dealt with before. We’ve seen that,” Deboer said. “Edmonton played him that way last year in the playoffs. I think individually and collectively that’s what teams in the playoffs try and do, is take away the other team’s strengths and expose their weaknesses. We’re trying to do the same thing on our end.”
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @ Davidschoenlvrj on Twitter.