May 19th: The Vegas Golden Knights met with NHL league officials at 10:00 AM today to appeal the severe discipline handed down following their Game 6 media blackout against the Anaheim Ducks. Ultimately, the face-to-face meeting did not result in a reprieve for the club, as the original penalties will remain strictly as assessed.
Consequently, head coach John Tortorella is still on the hook for a $100K fine, and the Golden Knights will officially forfeit their second-round draft pick in the upcoming 2026 NHL Entry Draft. The league’s firm stance stems from what it characterized as “flagrant violations” of playoff media regulations, compounded by multiple previous warnings issued to the organization regarding compliance.
While the door appears completely closed on the draft penalty being revoked or reinstated, there is a small glimmer of hope for the franchise down the line. Reports indicate that if Vegas remains fully compliant with all league rules and media policies moving forward, there could be an opportunity for the NHL to address or revisit aspects of the situation in the future. For now, however, the reigning Western Conference finalists must absorb the heavy loss of draft capital and a hefty financial hit as they prepare for their third-round series against the Colorado Avalanche.
May 15th: The National Hockey League didn’t let the Vegas Golden Knights celebrate their Western Conference Final berth for too long. According to an announcement from the league office, the Vegas Golden Knights will forfeit their 2026 second-round pick, and head coach John Tortorella will be fined $100K for “flagrant violations” of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Media Regulations.
Although the punishment was unknown, this was an expected outcome for many. In the announcement, the league shared, “The imposition of these penalties comes after previous warnings were issued to the Club regarding their compliance with the Media Regulations and other associated policies.” After last night’s series-clinching win, Vegas closed the locker room doors to the media, and Tortorella refused to meet with them.
According to the league, the Golden Knights will have the ability to appeal the punishment, though they likely won’t have much leverage, given that they’ve been warned multiple times. Still, instead of arguing for a complete erasure of the punishment, Vegas may argue themselves into a slap on the wrist with an understanding that a harsher punishment will be had if something like this happens again.
Regardless, the loss of a second-round pick puts Vegas in a deep hole. Although they normally trade away their draft capital or trade away the prospects, they now lose one for nothing. After today’s news, the Golden Knights don’t have another second-round pick at their disposal until the 2030 NHL Draft.
The Golden Knights offered a press release of their own, saying, “The Golden Knights are aware of today’s announcement from the NHL regarding the postgame media availability following Game 6 in Anaheim. The organization will have no further comment.“
FAFO if I’ve ever seen it
There’s a lot about hockey that’s better than other sports. Really and truly. It’s the class of the sports world.
This? This is the opposite of that. Taking a second rounder away because a guy doesn’t talk to the media? Whatever the rules about media access are, that’s so egregiously over the line it doesn’t feel like the league is prioritizing any level of fair play over their own hurt feelings. Fine them, figure out something – taking a player from a team over something like this is the definition of lunacy.
Whatever a person thinks of Torts/Vegas (and I’m not a fan), this is absolutely wild, unnecessary, and about as wrong as a commissioner’s office can be.
I’m not a Vegas fan either – but when your in a League – ALL teams must follow the same rules you set.
Torts always seem to think they are special and can do his own thing.
The team had already been warned so they should not even have a .05% shot at getting their 2nd rd pick back.
Just like it was a farce when Ott got a first (32nd) back in this next draft after they were sanctioned
Yes. They were warned. But warned about what? Something that has nothing to do with hockey. We all watch hockey every night, right? Who even noticed they weren’t talking to the media after? I know I didn’t. And I know I saw no one else talking about it.
This is an off the ice crime being penalized with an on the ice penalty. And that’s why it’s so bad. Whether they talk after the game doesn’t change the outcome of hockey games – taking players away from them does.
And yeah, Vegas is unlikable. Fine. I won’t argue with that. But if you can lose draft picks away because someone at ESPN or the league office got their feelings hurt over a dumb non issue none of us noticed? That’s a horrific precedent that no fan of any team should want out there. Because sometimes our favorite teams hire unlikable people, and this shouldn’t be a possible outcome of that.
If Vegas can deny media availability, then everybody can.
Probably everybody would prefer to avoid the media, so they don’t have to explain themselves to the media and the fans. But that’s part of the business, and it helps generate more interest in the game.
The media is what we have to get us information. Silence it at your own risk.
“Something that has nothing to do with hockey.”
It has nothing to do with the sport of hockey but everything to do with the business of hockey. If they let this go, then maybe every team stops talking to the media. Then maybe the media stops covering hockey. And on and on. A draconian punishment nips this in the bud.
This was negotiated in the CBA and you can be sure the potential consequences were laid out to all teams as well. Vegas and Torts were undoubtedly warned and provided an opportunity to avoid this. (Question I have is . . . if Torts led the way with this media refusal, KNOWING that it could hurt the organization and not just his own finances, but he went ahead and did it anyway, well what kind of fun chats will there be with McCrimmon!? Perhaos ownership?!)
It is also likely that Vegas uses the appeal process and we see the league land on a more lenient consequence (similar to Ottawa, of recent), but there may not be enough time to arrive there in this case. (?) Guess we’ll see.
@seacaptain77 Silence the media? Refusing to talk to the media is silencing the media now?
Torts just has a way of making new friends. 🤣
Curious as to why the media was locked out, though I hardly feel badly for most of them.
This organization really believes it’s above the rules, eh? First circumventing the salary cap, now this.
Lighten up Francis You’re sad
Please explain how the salary cap was circumvented when the moves made were legal under the cap rules in place at the time.
You can circumvent the cap without breaking the rules in the same way you can circumvent paying taxes without breaking the law. A player conveniently being “fit to play” on day one of the playoffs isn’t breaking the rules, but it’s clearly done in order to circumvent the cap. Do you understand now?
A player being fit to play is circumventing the cap? I love when you goobs post this stuff.
We know Dog… it’s like John Wayne said, “Life is hard…”
Well, since you cannot provide an answer to my question, my assumption is that you have given up attempting to support your weak premise. Please continue to tell me that a player being ready to play is cap circumvention, not because it is actual cap circumvention, but because these are your feelings.
I can’t understand it for you Dog. I don’t know if you’re familiar with the rest of that quote, but you should take it to heart. Good luck.
I get it. The cap was never circumvented yet you wanted to believe that it was so you dug in and got backed into a corner. You cannot extricate yourself with a cogent statement so you change the topic. Your enthusiasm in the face of being wrong is very Wilf-esque and I applaud you for it. Please continue to post.
You bet Dog…
Hot air from Bet-man. He’ll TACO like Don
Who is Don? Don Cherry
I get it you’re a joyless lefty loser who idolized Mush Head Joe Biden
haha (joyful laff), the hate patrol right on cue. You don’t think Gary will waffle?
You think Mr Cherry’s a flip flopper?
Hey, let’s go on a hockey site and bring up politics! 🙄
Leftists don’t like Joe Biden, sweetie. He’s what most countries would call a “progressive conservative”. Not radical right, but certainly not a leftist either. That’s a really strange strawman to build for no reason, because leftists probably dislike Biden more than you do.
To be fair, leftists are too miserable, bitter, and angry to like anyone or anything other than being miserable, bitter, and angry.
definition of mirroring lol
Preach
That is a downright impressive escalation. I’ve never seen the league give out more than a fine for something of this nature. Vegas must have really pissed the league office off for them to take away a significant draft pick like that.
Without knowing for sure, I would have to speculate that something in the NHL contract with various media orgs guarantees interview access, which honestly would help explain why players doing interviews really seem like they don’t want to be there.
If that’s the case, there is likely a clause in the contract that stipulates fiscal penalties, and those penalties are probably higher in the playoffs.
If the NHL is getting dinged in the 6 figures when a team decides to do this, and it happens more than once… Yeah, the penalty meets the crime.
I understand the rationale entirely. I can guess what the policy is. I’m fairly sure I’ve seen teams fined for similar things.
What I don’t think I’ve seen before is teams lose a draft pick for it. There’s something specific to this where the NHL decided to put some extra mustard on it.
Do you think suffering thru the media ppl such as steve dangle on a nightly basis causes strain on the players? The only way that any canadian teams is gonna win the SC is by relocating to the US
Steve Dangle’s voice is really annoying, and he’s a moron
The teams have to do media after practice, before the game, during intermission, during the game on the bench, after games, end of the season, you name it. It’s crazy.
It sounds like Tortorella, And, His club were protesting the McNabb suspension, Good for Torts, And, The Knights, Nothing wrong with that.
Nailed it. New coach wanting to gain respect from his players and rally them around each other . Brilliant move.
not like Vegas wouldn’t of traded that pick for a veteran then offer a longterm contract that wouldnt age well
A bunch of you have been telling us the same thing since 2018.
Bettman will end up reversing it since vegas is his little pet project.
Boohoo cry babies
simma down hater, Kael’s right and you know it
Great point. Gary Bettman works for all franchise owners but 31 of them will sit silently and let him play favorite with one.
What’s the maximum fine a coach can receive? >.>
What the press release really said. The Las Vegas Knights are aware of the NFL’s penalty and We don’t give a Shit.
It comes across as an immature overreaction and makes the NHL brand look bad.
You love to see it.
This was a great way for Torts to get respect in the room by defending one of their leaders and have the team rally behind McNabb. The second will probably be reduced on appeal and the 100 K is an easily attainable bonus that gets added to his next contract.
The league had to make a stand, otherwise it would lose control. It will be reduced on appeal.
The action is a routine matter. It’s nothing personal. The NHL just must enforce its rules to preserve credibility.
The amount of grown a$$ children who don’t understand how the world works…
“Why is a billion dollar industry protecting their business interests, huh? I mean, c’mon.”
No one cares what the “media” wants or if their feelings were hurt. That the NHL penalizes a team for not speaking to the media is one of the most absurd things I’ve heard out of the large number of absurd things coming from NHL HQ. THAT’s the problem with NHL and sports today, it isn’t the sport that runs these leagues its media and idiots from corporate ownership. Following in the steep decline pioneered by the NBA or Professional Wrestling. Its putting on a show with actors for media. Give me a good OHL game any day.
I have no love for the media, but did Torts and the team really think McNabb shouldn’t have been suspended for that hit? 🤔
I don’t like Vegas or Torts. So, this was good to hear. Wish it had been a 1st round pick and $200,000 fine.
What’s the matter loser team you support must suck bitter boy
Actually, I’m a Carolina Hurricanes fan. They’re 8 and 0 right now.
I think Gary Bettman missed his calling, I think he’d be an amazing communist leader.
So instructive…
Even when the reason is 100% capitalism (serving the interests of your media partners who pay you)…it’s still “communism”.
@66 as i expained earlier @wilf is stuck in the past era but still tries to be edgy while we’re in post ironic era. That disconnect feels cringy. I think he meant that the tyrannical manner in which NHL served the punishment to VGK was communist like
Kind of has a punishment on the go feel to this. “And if you don’t start behaving, we’ll…..we’ll take away your Iphones!”. 😂
Seriously, why would there be a glimmer of hope? The league needs to stick with the punishment and move on. Pathetic!
This is how Bettman gets NO criticism in the media and his refs do not get chirped by the media when they do not call the game properly. Instead the media praises them like the liberal politicians it also supports blindly. In return the league grants them availability to players and coaches even while they are in the middle of a crucial game!
Absurdity defined:
“Tortorella caught shopping at Walmart. Bettman fines him $150,000 and suspends from bench for 20 games”.
“John Tortorella will be fined $100K for “flagrant violations” of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs Media Regulations.”
Poor little media girls got their feelings hurt. NHL National Neutered League.