Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery officially won the Jack Adams Award on Saturday, handed out by the NHL to that season's best head coach. Carbery was seen as the overwhelming favorite to win the award early in the 2024-25 campaign after Washington had an outstanding start.
SHINING BEHIND THE BENCH 🤩
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 7, 2025
Spencer Carbery is the fourth head coach in franchise history to be named the winner of the Jack Adams Award.#ALLCAPS x #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/hPhykqoeoP
The team finished at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, a total flip of its 2023-24 fate when it snuck into the final wild card spot in the last game of the regular season. That form, unfortunately, was short-lived after playing 82 games, with the Capitals crashing out of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the second round.
Carbery was told of his first-career coach of the year trophy in a very unique and heartwarming way. The team booked him to be interviewed by Monumental Sports Network's Joe Beninati but a short time into the taped segment, he was surprised with some special visitors.
Spencer Carbery got quite the surprise from his family after winning the Jack Adams Award. 🥹
— NHL (@NHL) June 7, 2025
Watch the #NHLAwards on June 12 at 6p ET on @NHL_On_TNT and @Sportsnet before Game 4 of the #StanleyCup Final! pic.twitter.com/gLKxCO00C5
Carbery's wife and two children emerged from behind the cameras with Craig Campbell from the Hockey Hall of Fame carrying the Jack Adams Award. Beninati then made the official announcement, sitting next to a misty-eyed Carbery.
"I had no idea," he said in a video posted to X by the team after the ruse was up. "I was not expecting that. Oh my gosh."
Capitals surprise HC Spencer Carbery with Jack Adams Award presented by his family
The surprises didn't end there for Carbery. His parents also made the trip out to Washington, D.C. and followed the trophy out to congratulate their son.
"I can't believe you, my baby," his mother Kate Stackhouse told him as they hugged. "I'm so proud of you."
"For them to come out and celebrate this moment with me, I'll never forget that," Carbery said of the occasion. He went on to credit his staff and the players for their efforts in making the recognition even possible.
Carbery is just the fourth Capitals head coach to win the Jack Adams Award since it was first handed out in 1974. He follows in the footsteps of Barry Trotz (2016), Bruce Boudreau (2008) and Bryan Murray (1984).
Washington is now also the only team in the league to have three Jack Adams winners since the 1999-2000 season. That's the most in the last quarter century and an impressive feat for the franchise as a whole.
Carbery is also the first head coach to earn a coach of the year award in the NHL, AHL and ECHL. He earned those two other honors, leading each of Washington's minor league affiliates: The Hershey Bears (2021) and South Carolina Stingrays (2014).