Cal Clutterbuck couldn’t imagine the Islanders’ Barry Trotz not being a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach.
The league announced on Friday that Trotz, the Lightning’s Jon Cooper and the Blues’ Craig Berube were the top vote-getters in balloting by the NHL Broadcasters’ Association. The winner will be revealed at the NHL Awards Show in Las Vegas on June 19.
“I don’t think there’s any argument against it,” Clutterbuck said before Game 1 of the Islanders’ second-round playoff series against the Hurricanes on Friday night at Barclays Center. “Without the Stanley Cup validation, people always argue against it.