A midseason look at 2019-20 NHL Jack Adams Award candidates
By Kyle McKenna
1. John Tortorella, Columbus Blue Jackets
Longtime NHL head coach John Tortorella is no stranger to breaking headlines. The 2003-04 Stanley Cup winner is also familiar with taking home the Jack Adams Award.
Tortorella, 61, earned NHL’s Coach of the Year honors twice. In 2003-04, he led the Tampa Bay Lightning to their first-ever Stanley Cup championship while taking home the award, and then the American-born coach won hardware again in 2017-18 with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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No NHL head coach has won the Jack Adams more than three times, but Tortorella is on the verge of tying that benchmark. His Blue Jackets experienced serious turnover this past offseason, after losing two-time Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, and forwards Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchene, to unrestricted-free-agency.
Most believed that 2019-20 would be the start of a transition for Columbus — a young team with major question marks between the pipes. That type of formula is never the recipe for a rebuilding team to experience success, let alone contend for a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Yet, Tortorella was never one to gain the public’s attention, or respect, with a traditional style, no?
It’s apparent that his hungry Blue Jackets are buying whatever recipe he’s selling — Columbus entered the All-Star break possessing the top wild card spot for the Eastern Conference and sits just one point back of the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division — watch out Pittsburgh.
Columbus’ 10-5-1 record against the Metropolitan Division should also speak volumes to Tortorella’s work behind the bench this season, too.
Another impressive note is that Columbus is 3-0-0 against the Carolina Hurricanes and its also won two games versus an impressive Washington Capitals squad.
While the Blue Jackets aren’t poised to make a deep run in the playoffs — the eventual 2020 Jack Adams Award winner will give any opposing coach trouble in the first round of the postseason.
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