Columbus Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella has been named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, annually given to the NHL’s best coach.
John Tortorella has been described many ways throughout his years of coaching in the National Hockey League: Loud, abrasive, demanding, and most importantly, great.
That is why it is no surprise that the Boston native was named a finalist for the Jack Adams Award Wednesday evening. Along with Mike Babcock of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Edmonton Oilers’ Todd McLellan, Tortorella was one of three to make the short list for the award.
Torts was hired to replace Todd Richards in October of 2015 as the Columbus Blue Jackets coach. This came after a messy one-year stay with the Vancouver Canucks that ended in Tortorella being fired.
Since coming to Columbus, Tortorella has been a savior for the miserable expansion team. The 2016-2017 season was the perfect example of that. In his first full season as coach, Torts led the team to a franchise best 50-24-8 record. Included in the historic season was a 16-game win streak that lasted the entirety of December.
Of the three candidates, Tortorella boasts the most points and wins this season. He also holds the distinction of the least amount of regulation and overtime losses as well. All three coaches were honored to coach three of the best youngsters in the league. Columbus obviously had Zach Werenski, while Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid led the ways for their teams offensively.
The winner of the Jack Adams Award, among all of the other NHL awards, will be announced on June 21 in Las Vegas.