Coyotes' Maloney Named NHL General Manager of the Year

[Thrillhouse]

PHILADELPHIA -- Don Maloney of the Phoenix Coyotes is the 2009-10 winner of the NHL General Manager of the Year Award, the National Hockey League announced today. Maloney accepted the award in front of his peers at the NHL General Managers meeting held annually during the Stanley Cup Final.

Voting for this new award was conducted among the 30 Club General Managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media at the conclusion of the regular season. Maloney, George McPhee of the Washington Capitals and David Poile of the Nashville Predators were identified as the three finalists for the trophy last month.

Maloney steered the Coyotes through an uncertain and turbulent off-season, charting the course for the most successful regular season in franchise history. His biggest move was hiring head coach Dave Tippett, who guided the Coyotes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2002 by posting a 50-27-5 record for 107 points and setting franchise records for wins and points in a season.

Maloney added several players to the Coyotes roster over the summer, acquiring RW Radim Vrbata, D Sami Lepisto, LW Lauri Korpikoski and D Jim Vandermeer through trades and signing veteran free agent D Adrian Aucoin, C Vernon Fiddler, G Jason LaBarbera, LW Taylor Pyatt and C Robert Lang. Those players joined a veteran core that already included LW Shane Doan, D Ed Jovanovski, D Zbynek Michalek and G Ilya Bryzgalov.

With the Coyotes already enjoying a breakout season, the acquisitions of RW Lee Stempniak, LW Wojtek Wolski and C Petteri Nokelainen plus defensemen Derek Morris and Mathieu Schneider at the Mar. 3 trade deadline propelled the club to even greater heights as Phoenix won nine consecutive games immediately following the deadline to tie a club record. Stempniak was named the NHL’s First Star for the Month of March after leading the League with 13 goals in 14 games while Wolski recorded 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in 18 games with his new club.

Maloney, 51, completed his third season in Phoenix. He joined the Coyotes in May 2007 following 10 years in the front office of the New York Rangers.

[ScottRasner]

Nice! Very well deserved, the guy is clutch on everything he does. Have had some great conversations with him. Way to go GMDM!

[dumby]

Sighning Bissonnette for two more years clinched for him.

[nyislesfan45]

Seems to be well deserved.

[canuckfan]

Maloney did a good job of assembling a team of cast-offs and has-beens, but if you ask me, it was the hiring of Dave Tippett and his coaching that got the Coyotes into the playoffs - and he deserves most of the kudos of how well Phoenix did this season. Tippett should be a shoe-in for the Jack Adams.

[mike56]

a fine choice!

[bengino]

Originally Posted by canuckfan

Maloney did a good job of assembling a team of cast-offs and has-beens, but if you ask me, it was the hiring of Dave Tippett and his coaching that got the Coyotes into the playoffs - and he deserves most of the kudos of how well Phoenix did this season. Tippett should be a shoe-in for the Jack Adams.

this is absolutely spot-on. Something tells me that you can have a team of superstars and if the coach sucks the team will not perform (Rangers of a few years past). Tippett has always gotten great regular season's out his teams, it is in his failure to actually be victorious where it truly matters that lays the downfall that is Tippett's coaching career. Until he wins the cup i should add.

Tippett sort of reminds me of Pat Quinn, Quinn has 3 Stanley Cup Finals appearances but no victories.