Why Travis Green deserves to be considered for the 2025 Jack Adams Award
There’s no shortage of quality candidates to win the NHL’s Jack Adams Award as the top coach in 2024-25 – but should Ottawa Senators coach Travis Green be in the conversation?
The Sens entered the week sitting in a playoff spot in the Atlantic Division – far above their seventh-place divisional spot last year. The Sens have done so despite injuries to plenty of key players, giving some fans hope that they can finally advance to the postseason for the first time since falling in the Eastern Conference final back in 2016-17.
Green is in his first season coaching the Senators, taking over from veteran coach Jacques Martin after the end of the 2023-24 season.
In a recent episode of Coming In Hot on The Nation Network, former NHL goaltender and current TV personality Jamie McLennan chatted with hosts Brent Wallace and Jason York to talk about the potential for Green to win the top coach award.
Brent Wallace: Travis Green, you played with him, but you’ve also watched him now as a coach. Should he? With what has happened with the Sens going from basically near the bottom last year in goals against and save percentage… this team is now in a playoff spot, third in the Atlantic. Should Travis Green be considered for the Jack Adams Award?
Jamie McLennan: Yeah. I don’t think that’s a ridiculous take. I’ll throw in Dean Everson. I’ll throw in Spencer Carbery. I’ll throw in Ryan Huska because if Calgary ends up squeaking in… he’s been under the radar because there have been so many storylines in Canada that Calgary gets lost in the shuffle.
But Travis Green, let’s not forget they’ve been without their No. 1 goaltender for over a calendar month now. He’s been hurt twice this year. Jake Sanderson missed that game. The other day, I was so afraid that he had a long-term injury or something. Nick Jensen has now missed games.
It’s not like every team hasn’t had adversity, but Ottawa’s had a lot of adversity and a lot of excuses. They had the nine-game road trip at Christmas that could have gone south. Yeah, it really sucks. So I think Travis Green deserves to be in that conversation. Will he win it? I don’t know. If they end up going on some ridiculous run and they’re challenging for the Atlantic, then you’re talking… based on where they are, where the expectations were and the adversity they’ve had to battle. I don’t think it’s a ridiculous take to say he has to at least be in the conversation of the top four or five.
You can watch the full episode below here: