Cassidy, Tortorella, Vigneault named Jack Adams Award finalists

Bruce Cassidy of the Boston Bruins, John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Philadelphia Flyers' Alain Vigneault are the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, the league announced Wednesday.

The honor - with the winner determined through votes from members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association - recognizes the coach who contributed the most to their team's regular-season success.

Cassidy's Bruins finished with the league's best record (44-14-12), winning the Presidents' Trophy in his fourth year with the club. Boston allowed the fewest goals in the NHL, finished with the second-best power play, and the Bruins' penalty kill ranked third. Cassidy was a finalist for the award in 2017-18.

After Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky and Matt Duchene left Columbus last summer, Tortorella still managed to steer the Blue Jackets to a spot in the play-in round. Columbus finished in sixth place in the Metropolitan Division and earned the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference. Tortorella was forced to deal with injuries to key players all season, including Seth Jones, Joonas Korpisalo, Cam Atkinson, Zach Werenski, and Oliver Bjorkstrand. He's won the Jack Adams Award twice and has now been a finalist five times. Only Pat Burns has won the award three times.

The Flyers, meanwhile, surprised the hockey world this season, finishing with the Eastern Conference's fourth-best record. Few pegged Philadelphia to be a legitimate threat entering the campaign, but Vigneault turned the club into one in his first season as its head coach. The Flyers improved dramatically this season, ranking seventh in goals against per game (2.77) after ending 2018-19 in 29th. A five-time finalist, Vigneault won the award while with the Vancouver Canucks in 2006-07.

Barry Trotz of the New York Islanders took home the Jack Adams Award last season.

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