LAS VEGAS — John Tortorella will not return as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights after guiding them to the Stanley Cup Final on an interim basis.
Uncertainty lingered over the situation through the team’s elimination in Game 6 of the final against Carolina. General manager Kelly McCrimmon announced that Tortorella would not be back.
“We thank Torts for the guidance he provided our team since joining the organization in March,” McCrimmon said. “When the decision was made to bring Torts to Vegas, we needed an immediate impact to help us at a pivotal point in the season. Torts’ experience and leadership proved to be the boost that we were looking for, helping guide us to the Stanley Cup Final. We are grateful for Torts’ passion, sincerity, and commitment to our organization, and we wish him and his family the best.”
McCrimmon hired Tortorella on March 30 when he fired Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in the season. The Golden Knights won seven of them and then got through three rounds before losing to the Hurricanes in the final.
Tortorella, who is set to turn 68, is 22 years removed from coaching Tampa Bay to the Stanley Cup in 2004. After his time with the Lightning, he spent time running the bench for the New York Rangers, Vancouver, Columbus and Philadelphia and was out of the league for roughly a year before getting the call from McCrimmon.
Players spoke highly of how Tortorella handled jumping in this spring. He took criticism in recent days for deciding to stick with goaltender Carter Hart, whose .863 save percentage was the lowest in the final since Minnesota’s Jon Casey in 1991.
One avenue Vegas could go with for Tortorella’s successor is promoting Ryan Craig, who has been coach of its top affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League, for the past three seasons.
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