Paying For Stupidity

There is zero obligation for anyone to like the Vegas Golden Knights or John Tortorella when it comes to one's hockey allegiances. I get that Tortorella's antics often rub people the wrong way, and there are a lot of hockey fans who simply don't like how the Golden Knights conduct business in general. They seem to enjoy embracing the villain role when it comes to a lot of what they do, and maybe that's because they aren't afraid to push the envelope in a lot of situations. With the Golden Knights not being happy about Brayden McNabb's one-game suspension, you have to figure that they were going to respond after the game with comments or statements about how they overcame unfair rulings, but that didn't happen because the Golden Knights decided they weren't speaking to the media after their Game Six victory that eliminated Anaheim.

The NHL mandates that each team has to make coaches and players available after each game which allows the media to ask questions and obtain quotations for stories they're writing about the game and, in this case, the series. It's not a matter of choice because the NHL requires it as part of their media practices. Opting out isn't an option even if one doesn't feel up to it. The NHL says teams have to do it.

Cue the Golden Knights for their brand of chaos as head coach John Tortorella refused to speak to reporters after the game while, as a team, the Golden Knights didn't provide access to their locker room in accordance with NHL and Players' Association-negotiated media regulations in the CBA. Needless to say, people at the NHL's head office were not going to be happy about this development.

Today, the NHL made it very clear not to mess with their kingdom as the league removed a 2026 second-round pick from the Vegas Golden Knights and fined John Tortorella a hefty $100,000 for violating media access rules. The Golden Knights can appeal their draft-pick penalty if they choose, s0 expect the Golden Knights to demand that second-round pick back since they don't have many to give away.

The thing that kills me in all this is that all they had to do was show up after the game, give a few comments, and this wouldn't even be a thing today. Sure, the team and coach can be angry that one of their regular defencemen is out of the lineup for what they believe wasn't anything suspendable, but was it worth sacrificing a second-round pick and $100,000 over when they simply could have said, "We disagree with the league's assessment" and gone back to celebrating their series-clinching win? That's a heavy price to pay for stupidity.

I've listened to hockey pundits talk about how John Tortorella has let his sideshow upstage his coaching over his entire career, and I'm not saying that I disagree with that. Tortorella gets results in the immediate honeymoon phase of his hiring, but there's almost always some sort of non-coaching problem that begins to develop in that time. Whether he's alienating players, trying to pick fights with opposing coaches, or clashing with management, it seems that John Tortorella doesn't conform to accepted NHL norms and traditions.

In summary, it seems he fits perfectly with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Jokes aside, one has to wonder how long the Golden Knights will tolerate this kind of behaviour from Tortorella assuming that they weren't part of the planning that went into this stunt. Losing valuable draft picks isn't something any team wants, and it's safe to assume that the NHL will hit the Golden Knights with harsher penalties if they were to do this again. And all of this happened because someone had their knickers in a knot over the NHL ruling that Brayden McNabb's interference in Game Five was suspension-worthy. That's so dumb.

I expect the Golden Knights to get their pick back because the NHL came down so harshly, but let this be a warning to all NHL teams: if you do stupid things, you're going to pay dearly. That's a lesson the Vegas Golden Knights and John Tortorella learned the hard way today.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!