Jane Njoku

Spencer Carbery was expecting to do a television interview and ended up being surprised with the Jack Adams Award.

On Saturday, the Washington Capitals coach was announced as the winner of the award given to the top coach in the NHL as voted on by the National Broadcasters’ Association. 

The 43-year-old was recently in studio with Capitals play-by-play announcer Joe Beninati of Monumental Sports Network, who was also in on the surprise.

“He is under a ruse that he is coming here to do an interview for Monumental Sports. I think he is going to be really, really shocked,” said Carbery’s wife, Casey, who was backstage along with his son, Hudson, and daughter, Vivian.

“I’ve been told there are a few special people who want to congratulate you on this outstanding season,” Beninati said before the Jack Adams Award as well as Carbery’s family entered the studio.

“I had no idea,” Carbery said, before his parents Bryan and Kate also entered. “How did everyone travel here? All corners of the continent. Washington State, South Carolina, Victoria, British Columbia, Chicago, Illinois, Green Bay, Wisconsin. For them to come to D.C. and celebrate this moment with me, I’ll never forget that.”

“In the ultimate team sport as a coach, you hate things that direct attention toward you,” Carbery said. “Our support staff and obviously our players, all those people deserve so much credit for this award.”

The Minnesota Timberwolves have plenty of reason to run back the same roster after reaching the Western Conference finals for the second straight time.

“We feel very happy with the core we have. We don’t feel like there’s tremendous pressure to do much,” president of basketball operations Tim Connelly said.

Connelly later added: “Those organizations that can show patience tend to have a really high level of success. But patience shouldn’t lead to risk aversion. If there’s something that if we have to shake it up and make us a better team, we’re certainly open to that.”

The most pressing matters for Connelly and the front office over the next month will be negotiations with the agents for Julius Randle and Naz Reid, the two power forwards with vastly different styles and backgrounds who both face the same decision on whether to exercise a contract option for 2025-26 or decline it to become a free agent.

Randle’s is for more than $30 million.

Reid’s is for about $15 million, making him at age 25 more likely to opt out in favor of a larger and longer deal. But that doesn’t mean the Timberwolves won’t be aggressive about trying to bring the fan favorite back.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker will be an unrestricted free agent. Connelly gave no indication he’ll be limited by ownership in what he can commit to player salaries.

Bringing back Alexander-Walker as well as Randle and Reid without again passing the second apron might be impossible.

“Super happy here. It’s been great — not just as working with the team, but this whole community really feels like home,” Connelly said. “I think you guys are stuck with me.”

In one of the most emotional moments of the NHL season, Columbus Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan was named the 2025 recipient of the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded for perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.

Monahan, 30, received the award at his home outside Toronto, in a surprise orchestrated by none other than Meredith Gaudreau, widow of Johnny Gaudreau, Monahan’s longtime best friend and former Flames teammate who died tragically last August in a bicycle accident alongside his brother, Matthew. Both were struck by an alleged drunk driver in Salem County, New Jersey.

“You don’t hear John’s name without thinking of Sean,” Meredith said. “They’re best friends, they’re brothers.”

“John knows I don’t like the spotlight,” Monahan said. “So I feel like he’s probably watching that moment and laughing at me.”

“Having Meredith come down… was a lot of emotions right away and very special.”

A $2,500 donation will be made to the Bill Masterton Scholarship Fund in Monahan’s name.

“It’s a real big honor,” Monahan said. “There’s a lot of special names on that trophy. The meaning behind it is something I take great pride in — being on a team, being a father, a husband.”

In Meredith’s words: “Sean, you persevered through one of the hardest things. This one’s just celebrating your character… I know John is so proud of you.”

And now, with his name etched into Masterton history, Monahan stands not only as a symbol of perseverance on the ice but of enduring love and friendship off it.