The Golden Knights have made a surprising decision to fire coach Bruce Cassidy. General manager Kelly McCrimmon said Golden Knights players had lost their spark, and that played into the decision. The organisation hopes John Tortorella’s presence will jump-start what players agreed was a needed energy boost.
Tortorella’s Immediate Impact
Tortorella met with the players. He replaces Cassidy for at least the rest of the remainder of this season and the playoffs. Tortorella joins Vegas for his 24th NHL season as a head coach.
Tortorella said there wasn’t enough time to make major changes and overload his players with information. He instead will make some tweaks. He even let the assistant coaches put together the lines for the game against Vancouver. Tortorella said he is still learning names and is relying on the players to provide him the necessary information to move forward.
Players React to Coaching Change
Captain Mark Stone said, “I think the locker room had gone a little stale. We weren’t playing with that same emotion that we normally do. We have to bring ourselves into the fight a little bit.”
Tortorella said, “I’ve been in the league a long time. Won some, lost some, did some dumb things along the way. To get an opportunity at this point in my career to come here, are you kidding me? I just want to help. That’s what I told the boys today. A good man lost his job. That affects these guys. Don’t think it doesn’t.”
Golden Knights’ Playoff Push
The Golden Knights take a three-game skid into Monday night’s home game against Vancouver, which begins a final eight-game stretch. Vegas is in third place in the Pacific Division and in playoff position despite the recent downturn that includes a 5-10-2 record since the Olympic break through Sunday’s play.
The Golden Knights, who spent about three months atop the Pacific Division, were built to compete for the Cup this season, most notably acquiring forward Mitch Marner in a sign-and-trade with Toronto last offseason.
Tortorella is on an agreement to coach the team throughout the regular season and the playoffs should the Golden Knights make them. Then a decision will be made on a more long-term arrangement, with McCrimmon comparing it to the Rick Bowness situation in Columbus.
Moving forward, McCrimmon said, was what he had in mind after making this decision. The Golden Knights are just three years removed from winning the championship — and management approaches every season with the idea of doing all it can to eventually hoist the Cup