Tortorella humbled by Golden Knights opportunity, path to Cup Final

LAS VEGAS -- John Tortorella is concerned that rest might lead to rust for the Vegas Golden Knights.

On Friday, the coach’s source of fretfulness was the fact that it had already been three days since the Golden Knights eliminated the Colorado Avalanche in four games in the Western Conference Final on Tuesday. After giving the players the next two days off, he wonders if his team might be stale heading into the Stanley Cup Final next week.

“Just that, the layoff … it’s a lot of days, and I'll tell you right now, it worries the crap out of me,” Tortorella said.

He then softened his stance. After watching his veteran team take to the ice for a crisp enthusiastic practice, he said he was impressed from what he saw.

“We have a good group that’s going to handle it the right way. We have a plan to try to be as prepared as we can. … I just worry about you losing your edge for just a little bit.”

He paused for a moment.

“I trust the group,” he then added.

And they trust him.

It’s a two-way relationship that has the Golden Knights just four victories away from the second Stanley Cup championship in franchise history, a concept that seemed so farfetched when Tortorella replaced the fired Bruce Cassidy as coach on March 29.

And it’s one that has the 67-year-old feeling grateful just to have this opportunity.

Sure, there are signs of the ornery coach that has shown he can be tight-lipped, if not snappy, at press conferences, for more than two decades. As such, he was fined $100,000 for failing to address the media earlier this month after the Golden Knights had just eliminated the Anaheim Ducks in the Western Conference Second Round.

At the same time, there are indications that, at this advanced point in his career, in his life, he’s appreciating every single moment of this latest ride.

Was that actually Tortorella who was seen smiling and laughing with his players at practice? The same Tortorella who said Tuesday that he enjoys getting input from players on this veteran team instead of simply providing instructions on what they should be doing?

That’s him all right.

Not bad for a guy who started the season being unemployed.

That seems like such a long time ago, especially given the past three-month span in which he served as an assistant on the USA Olympic gold-medal team in February and now is behind the Vegas bench heading into the Cup Final.

It has left the always-confident Tortorella admittedly humbled.

“I just shake myself sometimes,” he said. “I certainly, 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.”

That includes USA Hockey and Olympic coach Mike Sullivan.

“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. You watch how they play up close, watch how they practice. And then to be on a team that won it, that was fun. You’re there to win, right? And then we've found a way to do it here …”

A way that has the Golden Knights in the Final for the second time in four years, something Tortorella said should not be taken for granted.

“One of the hardest things to do is get back,” said Tortorella, who is coaching in the Final for the first time since leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Cup in 2004, 22 years ago.

“This is a tough league, especially when it’s gone through so much parity. So sure, you think about that. Some coaches, 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 it back there. It’s the hardest trophy to win, but it’s really hard to just get in to try to win it.

“I can't explain the feeling of having another opportunity to do it.”

Tortorella at a loss for words?

That’s how much this chance with the Golden Knights means to him.