Boston Bruins
Bruce Cassidy Named Finalist For Jack Adams Award
Boston Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy was named one of three finalists for the Jack Awards Award, annually given to the head coach who “contributed most to his team’s success.” Cassidy is joined by John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Alain Vigneault of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Under Cassidy this season, the Bruins finished 44-14-12, good for 100 points, in just 70 games played. The Bruins were the best team in the NHL by both points (100) and points percentage (.714). That earned the club the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top team during the regular season. It was the first time the Bruins won the Presidents’ Trophy since 2013-14 when they went 54-19-9 under Claude Julien.
The Bruins were also the best in the league when it came to wins (44). They were 22-4-9 at TD Garden this past season, and 22-10-3 on the road. It was the seventh consecutive season that the Bruins won at least 40 games. Cassidy guided the Bruins to an NHL-best +53 goal differential while ranking in the top three in both power play (25.2%, 2nd) and penalty kill (84.3%, 3rd) efficiency.
In his three full seasons as head coach of the Boston Bruins from 2017-20, Cassidy has helped the team rank in the Top 10 in nearly every major statistical category: 143 wins (2nd), 319 points (2nd), 3.21 goals per game (6th), 2.52 goals allowed per game (1st), 24.9 power-play percentage (2nd), 82.6 penalty kill percentage (tied for 3rd) and 50.8 faceoff win percentage (tied for ninth).
This is the second time that Cassidy is a Jack Adams finalist since taking over for Julien during the 2016-17 season. He finished as the runner-up to then Vegas Golden Knights head coach Gerard Gallant for the award following the 2017-18 season. Cassidy has never finished outside of the playoffs while leading the Bruins.
Bruce Cassidy is attempting to become the fourth Bruins coach to capture Jack Adams honors. Don Cherry (1975-76), Pat Burns (1997-98) and Claude Julien (2008-09) previously won the award.