Cassidy a finalist again for top coach
Bruce Cassidy probably won’t make his ultimate professional dream come true until he raises the Stanley Cup over his head, but the Bruins’ coach is being recognized increasingly as one of the best at his job.
For the second time in three years, Cassidy was named one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award as the top coach in the National Hockey League.
Cassidy, who led the B’s to the league’s best record in the coronavirus-shortened regular season after coming one win short of the Cup in 2018-19, is up against the Columbus Blue Jackets’ John Tortorella and the Philadelphia Flyers’ Alain Vigneault.
Tortorella, who kept the Jackets in the hunt after enduring major free agent defections and numerous injuries during the season, may be the favorite for the award, but Cassidy very much belongs in the conversation. He led the B’s to a 44-14-4 record and their third straight 100-point season.
The Bruins were trending downward after a long run of success under Claude Julien when Cassidy took the reins in February 2017, but he has amassed a 161-66-34 record for a .682 winning percentage and he’ll be making his fourth trip to the playoffs when the league goes to its unique 24team tournament next month.
While Cassidy instituted a more up-tempo, attacking offensive style when he took over, the B’s never lost their defensive identity. This year, the B’s allowed the fewest goals (2.39 per game), were second in power play (25.2%) and third in penalty kill (84.4%).
In 2018, Cassidy finished second in voting in the league to Gerard Gallant, who led the expansion Vegas Golden Knights to an improbable run to the Stanley Cup Finals.
No one but Gallant had a chance of walking away with the hardware that year, but Cassidy is right in the mix for the award this year. The award is voted on by the league’s broadcasters.