- Vegas coach speaks on his improbable path from unemployed in the fall to the Cup Final
- Tortorella admits three-day layoff after the Avalanche sweep “worries the crap out of me”
- Read below for full quotes and video from Tortorella’s Friday media availability
John Tortorella started this season without a job. Now he’s four wins from a Stanley Cup.
He was asked Friday at City National Arena about the road that got the Vegas Golden Knights here, three days after their sweep of the Colorado Avalanche. The veteran coach did not dress it up.
“I just shake myself sometimes,” Tortorella said, per Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com. “I certainly pinched myself, and where I wasn’t coaching when each season started to the second half of the year, I can’t thank the people enough that have given me an opportunity.”
Vegas hired Tortorella on March 29 after firing Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in the regular season. The Knights went 7-0-1 down the stretch and have not let up since. Through four rounds, they have not lost back-to-back games at any point, and they finished the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche in four straight.
This is Tortorella’s first trip back to the Final since his 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning won it all. Twenty-two years. He’s also now in a rare club with Roger Neilson and Larry Robinson as the only coaches to take over with 10 or fewer regular-season games left and reach a Cup Final.
Before Vegas called, Tortorella spent February as an assistant on Mike Sullivan’s gold-medal USA Olympic staff. He credited that stretch with reshaping how he looks at the job.
“It’s fun for coaches to see some of the greatest players in the world that you (normally) coach against, in that type of situation,” Tortorella said. “You’re with them, so you learn a lot just in conversations, just how they play.”
Catch the full video of Tortorella’s press conference after the Game 4 sweep of Colorado:
The three-day layoff between rounds has him on edge. Tortorella said the gap “worries the crap out of me,” but he liked what he saw on the ice Friday.
Tortorella has been to a Final before. The pull of getting back is what he wants his veteran group to feel.
“One of the hardest things to do is get back,” Tortorella said. “Some great players, some of the greatest coaches in our game, haven’t gotten there, and that spells it out for you right there. So when you’re in it, make sure you’re in it, because you may never get back there.”
Carolina or Montreal will be the opponent. Game 1 is set for next week.
