ESPN.com's columnists weigh in with their selections for the Jack Adams Award, which is presented by the National Hockey League Broadcasters' Association to the coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success."

	Should the quality of Scotty Bowman's players discount his work this season?

The award is named in honor of the former coach and general manager of the Detroit Red Wings. Inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player, Jack Adams spent most of his career behind the bench and in management. He is the only man to have his name on the Stanley Cup as a player (Toronto Arenas, 1918), coach and general manager (Detroit Red Wings, 1936, 1937, 1943, 1950, 1952, 1954, 1955).

Terry Frei, Denver Post
Scotty Bowman, Detroit Red Wings: It's hard to argue with the coaches of rebounding teams -- including Robbie Ftorek, Brian Sutter and Peter Laviolette -- as worthy of consideration for this award. But at some point, it should be recognized that there's much to be said for coaching good teams and keeping them on track. Yes, the Red Wings opened the checkbook, but Scotty Bowman remains one of the most amazing stories in pro coaching. Quirky, even maddening, often inexplicable, he has managed to adapt and win through several evolutionary -- even revolutionary cycles -- in the NHL. At Colorado, Bob Hartley's cool has been remarkable over his four-season tenure. Again, the ownership's financial aggressiveness seems to diminish his accomplishments in the minds of those who rate coaches only by a success-to-expectations ratio. Hartley never has gotten enough credit. The choices here are Bowman, Hartley and Sutter in that order. Under the recent standards of this award, though, Sutter and Ftorek probably will finish 1-2.

Mike Heika, Dallas Morning News

	Ftorek

Robbie Ftorek, Boston Bruins: There might not be a more hotly contested award this season as several coaches have turned in spectacular performances. Bob Hartley has done a great job dealing with injuries and distractions in Colorado. Scotty Bowman has been masterful with a room full of veterans in Detroit. Peter Laviolette has inspired the Islanders. And Darryl Sutter has showed a calm hand in handling the Sharks.

But the voting comes down to three coaches -- Brian Sutter with his magnificent turnaround of the Blackhawks; Bob Francis and his ability to get the most out of Phoenix's budget lineup; and Robbie Ftorek, who has led the Bruins through a quietly controversial season.

The vote here goes by the slimmest of margins to Ftorek. The guy had to wallow through the Jason Allison contract mess at the beginning of the season and also had to adjust to adding a few new players and a couple of key injuries. Yet, he got the Bruins from missing the playoffs last season to possibly winning the East this year. That's significant.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Boston Globe
Robbie Ftorek, Boston Bruins: After two depressing non-playoff seasons in Boston, Ftorek came in and infused positive energy and helped reignite interest in what had been an underachieving franchise that changed coaches as if they were socks. General manager Mike O'Connell went shopping for help in the summer and produced grit, character and talent in the likes of Martin Lapointe, Sean O'Donnell and Rob Zamuner. Then O'Connell dealt disgruntled captain Jason Allison for Glen Murray and Jozef Stumpel. Then add to that young forwards Sergei Samsonov and Joe Thornton and some career-year performers in terms of goals -- Bill Guerin and Brian Rolston. With a healthy goaltending tandem in Byron Dafoe (career mark in wins) and John Grahame (ditto), that completes the picture. No matter what bumps were hit in the road along the way, Ftorek kept the ship moving in the right direction. Ftorek will never wow anyone with his postgame assessments -- he tends to speak in cliches and would rather stick needles in his eyes than discuss injuries or tell anyone who's playing goal prior to a game -- but he and his staff have the club believing in a common goal -- winning. It doesn't get any more effective than that.

George Johnson, Calgary Herald

	Francis

Bob Francis, Phoenix Coyotes: No one expected much of anything from the Phoenix Coyotes. They had, after all, traded away Keith Tkachuk at the tail end of last season and lost Jeremy Roenick to unrestricted free agency. Gone was their on-ice identity and most of their artillery. Which is why Bobby Francis finally deserves not only recognition for being a pretty fair coach, but the Jack Adams, as well. Francis has the Coyotes battling not only for a playoff spot, but an oustide chance at home-ice advantage in the first round. He has instilled belief and a sense of purpose in his young team.

The other finalists -- very much deserving of recognition, as well -- should be Chicago's Brian Sutter and Robbie Ftorek from Boston. Sutter's brand of blue-collar work ethic fits right into the gritty neighborhood where the Hawks play and he's drawn more out of enigmas like Eric Daze and Alexei Zhamnov than anyone thought possible. Ftorek, meanwhile, has continued to develop Boston's -- the B's are on pace to slash 50 goals off their total of last season and perhaps earn the No. 1 seed in the East heading into the postseason.

Francis, however, has done a better moulding job with less raw materials to work from.

Rob Parent, Delaware County Times
Bob Francis, Phoenix Coyotes: Hold the voting now for the Jack Adams Award and it should be a shoo-in for Bob Francis of Phoenix, who wasn't even expected to be coaching the Coyotes after Wayne Gretzky took the team over. Without Jeremy Roenick, Keith Tkachuk and Nic Khabibulin, the Coyotes were expected to be a low-payrolled, bottom-rung team. Instead, they're 9 points shy of the club record for points (96) with seven games left. And Phoenix's total of 87 has it fifth in the conference and just two points behind San Jose in the Pacific Division.

There are plenty of candidates for this award, with Boston's Robbie Ftorek and L.A.'s Andy Murray deserving finalist positions. But no coach has done more with less than Francis has, which is what should really be at the heart of any coaching award. But Francis took that one step further, talking surviving veterans and newcomers alike into buying into the program, which advertises that the departures of so many stars and the cutting of so many budget dollars doesn't necessarily translate into a losing team in the NHL.