The Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award was first handed out to the American Hockey League’s coach of the year in 1967-68. In the National Hockey League, the Jack Adams Award was given for the first time to the league’s coach of the year in 1973-74. Only four coaches have ever won both the Pieri and Adams awards.

Fred Shero was the second ever recipient of the Louis A. R. Pieri Award, winning in 1969-70 as coach of the Calder Cup champion Buffalo Bisons. Four years later, he became the first ever recipient of the Jack Adams Award winning with the Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers in 1973-74. Interestingly, in between, Shero won the Jake Milford Trophy as coach of the year in the Central Hockey League for the 1970-71 season. Fred was coach of the Omaha Knights, a team, like the Bisons and Flyers, that won the league championship.

Shero coached in the National Hockey League from 1971-72 to 1980-81 with the Flyers and New York Rangers. With the Broad Street Bullies, Fred won two Stanley Cups in 1973-74 and 1974-75 and lost in the finals the following season. While coaching the Rangers, Shero took the team to the Stanley Cup finals in 1978-79, losing to the Montreal Canadiens. His winning ways began in the IHL, winning championships with the St. Paul Knights in 1959-60 and 1960-61.

Don Cherry coached just three years in the AHL and six in the NHL. In the third of three years as coach of the AHL’s Rochester Americans, 1973-74, Cherry was awarded the Pieri Award. The team finished first overall with 97 points but was upset in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs by New Haven.

In his second of five years with the Boston Bruins, 1975-76, Cherry was awarded the Jack Adams. The team finished third overall in the NHL that season, behind the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. Boston finished with 48 wins and 113 points and lost to the Flyers in the Stanley Cup semi-finals. In the following two seasons, the Bruins made it to the Stanley Cup finals with Cherry as bench-boss, losing to the Canadiens both times. After his five years with Boston, Cherry coached one last season in the NHL with the Colorado Rockies.

Jacques Demers coached the AHL’s Fredericton Express for two years, taking them from fifth in their division to first place. He won the Pieri in 1982-83 with the team finishing with 45 wins and 98 points. When he took over the year before, the team finished the 1981-82 season with just 20 wins and 45 points.

After coaching four years in the World Hockey Association, Demers coached in the NHL for fourteen years with the Quebec Nordiques, St. Louis Blues, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning. It was with the Red Wings in 1986-87 and 1987-88 that Demers became the only coach to ever win the Jack Adams in consecutive seasons. In both seasons, the Red Wings lost in the Stanley Cup conference finals to the Edmonton Oilers. Most importantly, Jacques helped transition the team out of the ‘Dead Wings’ era.

Marc Crawford won the Pieri Award in 1992-93 with the St. John’s Maple Leafs. St. John’s finished first in the Atlantic Division and second overall in the AHL. The team lost in the Calder Cup division finals. Crawford won the Jack Adams with the Quebec Nordiques in 1994-95 with the team finished atop the Eastern Conference and second overall in the NHL. The following season, after the team was relocated to Denver, Crawford coached the Colorado Avalanche to a Stanley Cup victory. In all, Marc coached 1,151 NHL games with the Nordiques / Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Dallas Stars.