John Tortorella didn’t manage to coach the Vegas Golden Knights to a Stanley Cup championship. After the Game 6 loss, Tortorella shared some honest words about the team.
“I feel very fortunate,” Tortorella said at the postgame press conference.
The Vegas Golden Knights lost Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Carolina Hurricanes, who captured their first Stanley Cup in 20 years.
READ MORE: The Carolina Hurricanes win the Stanley Cup 2026
Golden Knights third Final
For the Golden Knights, this marked their third Stanley Cup Final appearance in just nine seasons of existence. They reached the Final in their inaugural season in 2018 but lost to the Washington Capitals. In 2023, they defeated the Florida Panthers to win their first championship. On Sunday, however, they fell to the Hurricanes, losing 3–0 in the game and 4–2 in the series.
On March 29, Vegas hired veteran head coach John Tortorella, who won the Stanley Cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004.
John Tortorella’s first words
This time, John Tortorella did not get the chance to lift the Cup. Ahead of Game 6, he said the Golden Knights would win and force a decisive Game 7, but things did not go as planned. Afterward, Tortorella explained what he felt made the difference.
“I thought their goaltender was really good tonight. Since he came in, he’s been really good. We lost our special teams a little bit, but it kind of came back tonight. I’m not going to take anything away from Carolina, but we put together some good stretches too. It’s a find-a-way league, and they found a way while we didn’t,” Tortorella said at the press conference.
He then spoke warmly about taking over the Golden Knights late in the season.
“It’s a good group of guys. Driven. Experienced. They’re good pros. A really good team. I feel very fortunate with how all of this came about. It happened in kind of a weird way at the end of the year, and then to get locked in with these guys—I feel very fortunate to get to know the team, get to know the organization, and have this opportunity. I wanted to coach. I want to coach. And to jump into this with this group, I feel so fortunate,” John Tortorella said.
You can watch the press conference below.
READ MORE: Rod Brind’Amour’s first words after winning the Stanley Cup
