By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 
As the Flyers started to rise through the ranks and move up in the standings, it was clear that a big part of the transformation of the team was behind the bench. Alain Vigneault helped bring winning hockey back to the Flyers.
When finalists for the NHL Awards were being announced, it was no surprise that Vigneault was there as one of the coaches up for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year.
The winner of the Jack Adams Award was announced on Wednesday night, with Boston Bruins’ head coach Bruce Cassidy taking home the honor. Vigneault finished a close second in the voting. Columbus Blue Jackets’ head coach John Tortorella was the other finalist and finished third.
Cassidy received 37 first-place votes and Vigneault was just behind with 32 first-place votes. Cassidy also had 29 second-place votes and 16 third-place votes. Vigneault had 23 second-place and 23 third-place votes. A first-place vote is worth five points, a second worth three points and a third worth one point. Cassidy finished with 288 points. Vigneault trailed by 36 points with 252 total. Tortorella finished with 28 first-place votes and 198 total points.
Cassidy wins the Jack Adams Award for the first time in his career and becomes the fourth Boston Bruins coach to win the award. He was also a finalist for the award in 2017-18, coming in second to Gerard Gallant of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vigneault was a Jack Adams finalist for the fifth time this year, an NHL record for nominations. Vigneault won the award in the 2006-07 season with the Vancouver Canucks and was also a finalist in 1999-2000 with the Montreal Canadiens, 2010-11 with the Canucks and 2014-15 with the New York Rangers.
The Flyers have one more award finalist awaiting the results of voting. Sean Couturier is a finalist for the Selke Trophy, which will be awarded on Thursday night.
