John Tortorella wants to keep coaching; defends costly decision to skip presser in playoffs with Vegas Golden Knights
After leading the Vegas Golden Knights on a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final this spring, John Tortorella has no interest in walking away from the game.
The Golden Knights announced in June that Tortorella, whose contract was expiring, would not return, promoting Henderson Silver Knights coach Ryan Craig to take his place.
The 68-year-old Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy with just eight games left in the season, leading Vegas to a 7-0-1 record to win the Pacific Division. The team then eliminated the Utah Mammoth, Anaheim Ducks and Colorado Avalanche before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final.
“Oh, I want to coach,” Tortorella told Joe Smith of The Athletic in his first public comments since Vegas announced he would not return. “I want to coach now. I’m not sure if that happens, and that’s where I am in my career. But I wanted to coach that Vegas team. I told (general manager Kelly McCrimmon) that.”
Tortorella added that McCrimmon didn’t leave him waiting long to inform him of the team’s decision as Craig had already been tabbed to take over.
“I guess the word I’d use is ‘Disappointed,’” Tortorella said. “I was honest with Kelly. We met the next morning (after Game 6). … Kelly is very honest, and he let me know within one minute of sitting down in that meeting — he basically told me, ‘Ryan Craig is coaching the team next year.’ I told him what I thought, and we had an honest conversation. I truly respect where the organization is going.
“We didn’t finish the job, and I wanted some more time with that club to try to finish the job. That’s not my call. That’s the general manager and president’s call. You just get about your business after that.”
The veteran head coach will have to wait for a vacancy to open as every job in the NHL has been filled this off-season. His success with the Golden Knights this year, though, could sway a team into making an in-season change for a boost.
A native of Boston, Tortorella previously served as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning over a 25-year head coaching career. He led the Lightning to a Stanley Cup title in 2004.
Tortorella’s 777 regular-season wins are ninth all-time among NHL head coaches.
No regrets on costly choice to skip presser
Tortorella spoke to Smith about his decision to skip the postgame media session after the Golden Knights eliminated the Ducks in the second round of the playoffs.
The NHL fined the head coach $100,000 and docked the Golden Knights a second-round pick for the incident, but Tortorella said he has no regrets on how the situation played out.
Tortorella said that he was supposed to speak before Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville, but the schedule suddenly flipped after his team’s Game 6 victory.
“That wasn’t me not wanting to do the press,” Tortorella explained. “That was me not wanting to hold up my team. I had to make a decision. … I was not going to hold up my hockey team after eliminating a team from the playoffs. I had to make a decision: to wait for Joel to finish and talk to you guys and hold up my hockey team, or go on the bus with my hockey team. I’m going with my hockey team. I own that. There was no underlying (issue). It was just bad timing.”
Tortorella is no stranger to forfeiting pay to the league. He’s been disciplined eight times since 2009 for various infractions, surrendering more than $250,000 and missing three games due to suspension.
