A record-breaking regular season has not come without some kudos for Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery, who will be among the three finalists for the Jack Adams Award for the 2022-23 season, according to the NHL.

Awarded annually to the league’s top coach, and voted on by the National Association of Broadcasters, Montgomery’s nomination comes after a regular season that saw the Bruins set both the single-season wins (65) and points (135) record.

• In addition to their record-setting wins and points mark under Montgomery’s guidance — and in just his first season behind the Boston bench — the Bruins finished the regular season with the fewest goals allowed, and the second-most goals scored. The Bruins also ranked first in the league on the penalty kill, and had the 12th-best power play in the league (they did spend the first half of the year neck and neck with the Oilers for the top ranked power play).

  Montgomery, who coached the Atlantic Division at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, also set the record for most wins by a coach in their first year with a franchise, with 65. That absolutely smashed the previous record, held by Mike Babcock and his 58 victories with the Red Wings in 2005-06.

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  SUNRISE, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 04: (L-R) Linus Ullmark #35, head coach Jim Montgomery, and David Pastrnak #88 pose during the 2023 NHL All-Star Game at FLA Live Arena on February 04, 2023 in Sunrise, Florida. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

• Montgomery’s top competition for the honor likely comes from Seattle, with second-year Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol also named a finalist for the honor.

  Back behind the Seattle bench after a horrendous first year that featured just 27 wins and 60 points, Hakstol helped lead the Kraken to the best second year by an expansion team in NHL history, with 100 points and a playoff berth.

  Seattle’s turnaround was headlined by an uptick in offense, with Kraken scoring the fourth-most goals per game in the league during the regular season after ranking 28th in that same stat a year ago.

  The Kraken also bumped off the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in a first-round postseason series, though it’s worth noting that voting for the award is due before the start of the postseason.

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  Dec 11, 2022; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol looks on from the bench during the third period against the Florida Panthers at FLA Live Arena. (Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports)

• Joining Montgomery and Hakstol as the third finalist will be the Devils’ Lindy Ruff.

  At one point considered a favorite to be the first coach fired this season, Ruff instead led the Devils to a downright ridiculous turnaround, with 52 wins and 112 points.

  Ruff is the only one of the three to have previously won the award, as he captured the Jack Adams Award as the coach of the Buffalo Sabres back in 2006.

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  Apr 9, 2022; Dallas, Texas, USA; New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff during the first period against the Dallas Stars at the at American Airlines Center. (Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports)

• A Montgomery win would make him the fifth coach in Bruins history to win the Jack Adams Award, and the first since Bruce Cassidy in 2019-20. The award was also won by Don Cherry (1976), Pat Burns (1998), and Claude Julien (2009) during their respective runs with the Bruins.

  The NHL Awards will be held at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on June 26.

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  (Bruins captain Zdeno Chara, goaltenders Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez, and head coach Claude Julien pose with their trophies following the 2009 NHL Awards at the Palms Casino Resort on June 18, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada.)

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