The Vegas Golden Knights are preparing for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Colorado Avalanche. Still, they’re coping with fallout from an incident of their series with the Anaheim Geese. After winning Game 6, John Tortorella didn’t speak with the media, and the locker room was closed, likely in response to the suspension of Brayden McNabb. It is a violation of the NHL post-game rules, and led to the Golden Knights being docked a second-round pick within the 2026 NHL Draft, and Tortorella being fined $100,000.
Now, the Golden Knights have appealed the ruling and are hoping for excellent news, in line with hockey insider Frank Seravalli.
“Vegas Golden Knights appeal of sanctions for violation of media access policy were heard this morning in-person in Recent York. The penalties currently stand as originally assessed. We’ll see if Commissioner Bettman decides to scale back upon consideration,” Seravalli posted on X, formerly Twitter.
The punishment seemed excessive to start with, but more information has since come to light, in line with Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.
“The league had indicated that that they had warned Vegas about some stuff before… I did hear that there have been a few requests that were turned down and you are not speculated to turn down rights holder requests unless there’s a very good reason,” revealed Friedman. “Then I heard, and I used to be told this by a pair different people, that there was a request for somebody on Vegas to wear a microphone and it was turned down. Once I heard that, I knew why they got hammered.”
Gary Bettman has also sent a memo up to now that told coaches they might not have the ability to say no to microphones being worn. Tortorella directly went against that.
“I believe one more reason Bettman did it’s because it became an annoyance that was too big. Someone compared it to waiving a red cape in front of a bull named Bettman, eventually he was going to say ‘Enough of this.’” added Friedman.
Tortorella has since spoken to the media, but his focus was on the upcoming series. Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is about for Wednesday night with puck drop at 8 p.m. ET.
The Vegas Golden Knights are preparing for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals against the Colorado Avalanche. Still, they’re coping with fallout from an incident of their series with the Anaheim Geese. After winning Game 6, John Tortorella didn’t speak with the media, and the locker room was closed, likely in response to the suspension of Brayden McNabb.