The Chicago Blackhawks are going to qualify for the NHL playoffs for the first time since 1997, which makes Brian Sutter a prime candidate for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year.

Few other teams have displayed such marked improvement this season. Robbie Ftorek of the Boston Bruins, and Bob Francis of the Phoenix Coyotes also should be among leaders in the voting when broadcasters around the league cast their ballots before the regular season ends April 14. Chicago has more wins and points, with 16 games remaining, than it earned all of last season.

Warm bodies are sitting in the thousands of United Center seats that were empty last season during the failed Alpo Suhonen coaching experiment.

The off-season signings of free agents Jon Klemm and Phil Housley helped but, other than these two journeymen defenceman, the lineup is much the same as last year when Chicago finished 22nd overall.

Sutter knew from the beginning what he had to do - re-establish a winning work ethic in an underachieving lineup - and he succeeded.

Sutter, 45, of Viking, Alta., won the Jack Adams Award in 1991 when he coached the St. Louis Blues, and he was runner-up in 1993 when he coached Boston.

The only Chicago coach to win it was Orval Tessier in 1983.

Ftorek did not face as huge a challenge in Boston when he took over the Bruins last summer as Sutter was dealt in Chicago.

The Bruins missed the post-season by only one point last spring, finishing in a tie for 17th overall, and they clearly were on the upswing with high-scoring skaters such as Joe Thornton and Bill Guerin.

The early-season trade of Jason Allison to Los Angeles added depth up front and, like Sutter, Ftorek was able to extract the needed effort out of his players.

Ftorek, 50, of Needham, Mass., would be the first non-Canadian coach to win the Jack Adams Award since its inception in 1974.

Francis has the Coyotes challenging to return to the playoffs after a year's absence despite working with less.

Keith Tkachuk was traded one year ago, then Jeremy Roenick and other free agents left last summer when the payroll again was slashed.

Most critics predicted a disappearance down the standings drain. Yet, this nondescript outfit continues to knock off teams that are superior on paper.

Give goalie Sean Burke a lot of the credit and apportion some to Francis, too.

Francis, 43, the son of former NHL goalie and executive Emile Francis, is in his third outstanding season in Phoenix. He doesn't get the credit he deserves.

Some broadcasters might lean towards elder statesman Scotty Bowman of the Detroit Red Wings or newcomer Peter Laviolette of the New York Islanders.

Detroit, second overall last year, is a runaway cinch for No. 1 and the President's Trophy, and an overwhelming favourite in the eyes of many to win the Stanley Cup. Bowman is a genius.

The Islanders already have 20 points more than they scraped together in finishing last overall last spring, and still have 18 games to play.

Detracting from chances Bowman and Laviolette have of winning the NHL's coaching award is the notion that dummies could have presided over winning seasons for these teams given the generous payrolls provided by Red Wings owner Mike Ilitch and Islanders owners Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar to parachute in all-stars.

Bowman, 68, was runner-up last year when Philadelphia's Bill Barber was coach of the year. The Montreal native won in 1977 and in 1996, and some might favour him this time because it would be great to see him win once more before he retires, which is a distinct possibility should the Red Wings go all the way.