The Golden Knights must forfeit their 2026 second-round NHL Draft pick, and coach John Tortorella has been fined $100,000 by the league after he “skipped his postgame news conference and the team failed to allow locker-room access to reporters” after a victory in Anaheim on Thursday. The NHL cited “flagrant violations” and said that the penalties come after “previous warnings.” After a 5-1 victory in Game 6 that sent the Golden Knights to the Western Conference final, PR staff informed media members that the team would “not open the dressing room for players to speak to the media, and cited congestion in the Honda Center hallway as staffers attempted to take bags to the team bus.” Golden Knights RW Mitch Marner and C Brett Howden spoke at a news conference, and D Shea Theodore spoke briefly in a separate room outside of the visiting dressing room. The NHL requires that coaches be made available to reporters “daily during the Stanley Cup playoffs, following morning skates, practices and games.” Teams are also required to “provide a 30-minute media access period to reporters in the locker room after practices and games” (THE ATHLETIC, 5/15).
The Golden Knights said that they “were aware of the league’s ruling and would have no further comment.” They have been “offered a chance to appeal the penalties,” and that meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman would take place this week. Tortorella said, “We put our statement out as an organization, so we’ll go by that. We’ll have no more comment.” After that, Tortorella looked ahead to the Western Conference final, which begins at 8pm ET on Wednesday against the Avalanche in Denver (LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL, 5/15).
