DENVER, May 19th, 2026— The Vegas Golden Knights have been in the news for all the wrong reasons over the last few days. On Thursday, they beat the Anaheim Ducks in six games, punching their ticket to the Western Conference Finals for the fifth time in nine seasons. That’s what should have been the story– the decisive victory, and the unparalleled level of success marked by their 76th postseason win in nine years.
It wasn’t. Instead, their postgame actions dominated the headlines. Head coach John Tortorella declined to speak to the media following the series win, and the league took notice.
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On Friday, the NHL released a statement announcing that the Golden Knights would forfeit a second-round pick in the upcoming draft, in addition to Tortorella being fined $100,00, for “flagrant violations of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Media Regulations.”
“The imposition of these penalties comes after previous warnings were issued to the Club regarding their compliance with the Media Relations and other associated policies,” the league wrote in its statement.
The Golden Knights were given the opportunity to appeal the decision in person in the Commissioner’s Office in New York, and they did so on Tuesday ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. The league decided to uphold the penalties.
“There is possibility if Vegas is compliant with rules, there could be some addressing of this in the future… but it doesn’t sound like there’s room for draft penalty to be revoked,” wrote Elliotte Friedman following the announcement.
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When Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon spoke to the media ahead of the start of the Western Conference Finals, he addressed all of this in his opening statement.
“We were, today, in New York, where we had a hearing with the National Hockey League regarding the events following Game 6,” McCrimmon began. “We missed a great opportunity that night to connect with our fans and share with them the victory of a playoff series. I’ve always felt, when you win a series, you galvanize the bond with your fan base.
“We missed that opportunity by not having John available to do postgame,” continued McCrimmon. “That’s on John for failing to do that; that’s on me as the general manager of the hockey club. That’s not at the feet of our comms people, who made other arrangements with each of you to accommodate the tight quarters in and around our dressing room postgame. We have no explanation other than to say we were wrong and to assure you that it will not happen again.
“ The league has spoken on the matter,” McCrimmon finished. “We have spoken on the matter. Neither John nor I will be taking any questions on this.”
