For a guy who was the odds-on favorite to be the first NHL coach fired before the season, John Tortorella sure has a lot of awards and honors.
The Columbus Blue Jackets bench boss won the 2004 Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay, made another final with the New York Rangers, and this past season became the first-ever American-born coach to win 500 NHL games.
And now, the man known as "Torts" is a two-time Jack Adams Award winner.
Tortorella captured the award as the NHL's top coach this year tonight at the NHL Awards ceremony, beating out Toronto's Mike Babcock and Edmonton's Todd McLellan.
He became the first Blue Jackets coach to win the award as he skippered the team to its first 50-win season and the most points in franchise history with 108. The Blue Jackets finished third in the Metropolitan Division but were fourth overall in the league in points after going 50-24-8.
The coach also was praised for the way he adapted to a younger, faster NHL, encouraging a "Safe is Death" mantra to encourage his inexperienced team to push the puck up the ice rather than fearing mistakes. Such players as teenage defenseman Zach Werenski, blue line partner Seth Jones, forward Cam Atkinson and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky had career years, while the relationship between Tortorella and captain Nick Foligno matured throughout the season and helped steer the boat the right away.
As our Rob Mixer wrote in March, "The Blue Jackets sorely needed an identity and Tortorella has provided it. No, it’s not the defensive, shot-blocking and (insert your favorite Torts cliché here) style that many associated with his arrival in Columbus. In fact, his vision for the Blue Jackets and their style of play is quite the opposite; he knew there were several promising young players already in place (he took a liking to Alexander Wennberg early on) and a handful more on the horizon, and wanted to instill a fast and aggressive mentality in them."
For his part, Tortorella arrived in Vegas for the awards gala happy to be representing the Blue Jackets and accompanied by such players as Nick Foligno, Zach Werenski and Sergei Bobrovsky.
"It's exciting for us, for the Blue Jackets, and I think we've put our best foot forward here in the process that we're trying to go through," Tortorella said. "Some of the accolades that are coming their way, it's terrific. I hope the guys enjoyed themselves here. It's not so much about do you get the award, it's just being noticed, and I think it's really good for our organization."
Tortorella won his previous Jack Adams Award in 2004, the same year he won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning.
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