Apr 6, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Chicago Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville watches his team play against the Nashville Predators during the third first at Bridgestone Arena. The Blackhawks beat the Predators 1-0. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

Joel Quenneville seems to be the favorite to win, since his team had an amazing run at the start of the season. They broke a record for consecutive games at the start of the season by getting at least a point a game in 24 games. Their record was 21-0-3. That put a jumpstart to their season for sure, but that wasn’t their only record. Quenneville paired two goaltenders who played so well, they were both considered to be starters. Ray Emery was the first goaltender in the NHL to go 10-0-0 in his first 10 games. They also won the Presidents’ Trophy earning them home ice advantage throughout the entirety of the playoffs. There is no question that Quenneville is a major part of this, and he played one hell of a hand with the players he had.

Mar 29, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau reacts during the third period against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Anaheim won 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

Bruce Boudreau led the Ducks to a season record of 30-12-6, which landed him safely behind the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2nd spot of the Western Conference. Boudreau, who joined the Ducks’ team mid-way through the season last year, has boosted his players t0 win more games. During the playoffs, where they lost in the first round to the 7th seeded Red Wings, they played three games where they came back and tied the game in the third period after being down by three or more goals. Two of those three games ended in an OT loss, but their push in the third period proved to be fatal to the Red Wings, and many regular season opponents. This is thanks to Boudreau, and he is a great choice for the Jack Adams Award.

Feb 16, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Ottawa Senators head coach Paul MacLean motions from the bench during their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

Paul MacLean, or as many of you know him as, the bug-eyed fat walrus, is the third finalist for this award. He led the Ottawa Senators to the 7th seed of the playoffs, who defeated the Montreal Canadiens in the first round. He had major issues to face, especially with injuries to stars Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson. With Karlsson’s injury, it was almost certain that he would be out until next season. In the first round of the playoffs, he made a comeback, and now Spezza is looking for a return hopefully soon. MacLean has also used his secret weapon in net. Craig Anderson was 6-2-2 in his first 10 games and seen as a Vezina trophy favorite early on. An injury caused in February against the New York Rangers limited him and has dropped him out of the Vezina race, but it hasn’t taken him out of the playoffs yet.

All three coaches have played their teams to the best of their ability, and it has worked very well. Other coaches I would consider is Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh Penguins-Had a few winning streaks this season), Mike Yeo (Minnesota Wild-Used Zach Parise and Ryan Suter to sneak into the playoffs above the red-hot Columbus Blue Jackets), and Adam Oates (Washington Capitals-Took a last place team to the third seed of the playoffs). It is time to vote, so who is going to win the Jack Adams Trophy? Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

2013 GM of the Year Finalists (L to R) Bergevin, Murray, Shero; Mandatory Credit: USATSI/Getty Images

Marc Bergevin is in his first season as the GM in Montreal, having arrived on the scene just twelve months ago.  Upon inheriting a team that finished dead-last in the Eastern Conference, Bergevin raised some eyebrows in hiring Michel Therrien as his head coach.  All the new GM and coach did was turn that 15^th-seeded squad into the second seed this season, winning their first Northeast Division crown since 2008.  Despite many scouts questioning how Alex Galchenyuk would respond to a major knee injury in his draft year, Bergevin went with his gut and drafted the talented American forward with the third-overall pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, thus far a good move on his part.

Bob Murray, in his fifth season as the architect of the Anaheim Ducks, certainly had a busy season.  As a yearly summer exercise in Southern California, Murray was forced to convince future Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne to put off retirement and return to the Quack Pack.  Murray also upgraded his defense and goaltending by bringing in Sheldon Souray and Viktor Fasth, respectively.  Fasth may have been the discovery of the year, as the 30-year-old goaltender seemingly came out of nowhere to provide Anaheim with two quality netminders.  In his first “full” (see: shortened) season behind the bench, Murray’s hire of Bruce Boudreau has been another good hiring.  However, Murray’s magic this season can best be revealed in his re-signings of both of Anaheim’s franchise forwards, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.  People wondered which of the two, if not both, Murray would be forced to trade during the season or see walk away at the end of it.  Instead, Murray extended both of them and saw his team bounce back from 13^th in the Western Conference the previous season to the second seed this time around, running away with the Pacific Division.

Ray Shero is seemingly in consideration for the GM of the Year Award every year, and this year is no exception.  The seventh-year GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins got the wheeling-and-dealing started right on draft day, making a move that would satisfy both the future and the present by acquiring one of the league’s better third line centers in Brandon Sutter for Jordan Staal, who was in the last year of his contract.  In another offseason move that is really paying dividends right now, Shero acquired goaltender Tomas Vokoun.  Shero’s roster impressed all season long, barely skipping a beat while sustaining injuries to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.  Without surrendering a single player off of his current roster, Shero made moves in-and-around the NHL Trade Deadline to bring in Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow, Jussi Jokinen, and Douglas Murray.  The Pens won the Atlantic Division and finished as the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

Per NHL.com, the General Manager of the Year Award is “an annual award presented to recognize the work of the league’s general managers” and is voted on by “the 30 club general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media.”  My choice for this season’s award is Bob Murray.  Bergevin’s major blemish was the holdout that lasted into the early stages of the season with then-restricted free agent P.K. Subban.  Shero did a fine job this season, though the lure for other players to play alongside Crosby and Malkin seems to take care of a lot of the recruiting itself.  Murray, on the other hand, brought in a gem of a goaltender, hired the right coach, and defied the odds by extending not one, but both of Getzlaf and Perry.  Murray is my pick for the 2013 GM of the Year.

Who do you think deserves to win GM of the Year: one of the three finalists or someone else entirely?  Comment below or tweet me @BostonNumber9 (or my team @TMMotS) to let us know who you feel should win this and any of the other end of season awards.

I hard and physical series came down to the great play of Henrik Zetterberg, and the absence of Corey Perry. Perry had multiple chances every game, and he either shot the puck wide of the net, or was stoned by Jimmy Howard. The Wings were able to rallyand erase the 2-3 deficit in the series they had going into game 6.

With Detroit moving on, they will be playing Chicago in the second round of the playoffs, and the San Jose Sharks will take on the reigning NHL Champions L.A. Kings.

Three Stars

1. Henrik Zetterberg – The newly appointed captain of the Detroit Red Wings kept his hot streak going right into the playoffs. He ended the series with 3 goals, 5 assists, and was +3. Zetterberg put up multiple point games in the final three games of the series to help life Detroit over the Ducks in the first round of the playoffs.

2. Jimmy Howard – Howard’s save percentage of .911% and goals against average of 2.74 aren’t very impressive, but Jimmy was on his game the whole series. Key save after key save, the Wings were kept in games by outstanding goaltending. He’s going to have to continue playing well if Detroit has a shot at getting passed the Chicago Blackhawks.

3. Jonas Hiller – Hiller posted a save percentage of .917% and a goals against average of 2.46. Hiller made key saves all series long for the Ducks. He proved that coach Bruce Boudreau made the correct decision in starting him in the playoffs, if he could have had a little more help in a couple games, the Ducks would have done away with the Wings, but it wasn’t meant to be and Jonas Hiller and the Anaheim Ducks are sent home in 7.