Former Rangers coach back in Stanley Cup Final after 22-year wait
It took more than two decades, and a slew of twists and turns along a winding path, but former New York Rangers coach John Tortorella is back in the Stanley Cup Final. The 67-year-old coach guided the Vegas Golden Knights into the championship round Tuesday with a 2-1 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final, completing a stunning sweep over the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche.
Tortorella is the first coach in NHL history to twice lead his team to a playoff sweep of the team with the best record in the regular season. His Columbus Blue Jackets also swept the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Two ironies stand out from that. One is that was the most recent playoff series win for Tortorella prior to this postseason. The Blue Jackets lost in the second round to the Boston Bruins in 2019, and then in the first round to the Lightning in 2020. Tortorella’s teams in Columbus and with the Philadelphia Flyers failed to qualify for the postseason from 2021-25.
The second irony is that it was the Lightning whom the Blue Jackets swept in 2019. After all, it was with Tampa Bay where Tortorella secured his greatest triumph, leading the Lightning to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2004, a seven-game series win against the Calgary Flames.
Now, Tortorella is back in the Stanley Cup Final 22 years later, just the second coach in League history to go 20 or more years between appearances in the championship round. Paul Maurice is the other, losing in the 2002 Cup Final with the Carolina Hurricanes before returning in 2023 with the Florida Panthers, who lost to the Golden Knights in five games.
“You’re always thinking about it, right?” Tortorella stated postgame Tuesday. “That’s all we talk about as players and coaches. That’s why we stay in the business, is to get that opportunity to compete and go through.”
Ex-Rangers coach John Tortorella makes history leading Vegas to Cup Final
Prior to this spring, the last time Tortorella even coached in the conference final was 2012 with the Rangers. After winning the Atlantic Division regular-season title and two Game 7 playoff wins over the Ottawa Senators and Washington Capitals, the Rangers ran out of steam and lost the Eastern Conference Final against the New Jersey Devils in six games.
This current run with Vegas is quite the story. Tortorella replaced the fired Bruce Cassidy with two weeks remaining this season, with the Golden Knights holding on to a playoff spot in the tight West race. Vegas won seven of eight games (7-0-1) down the stretch under Tortorella to finish first in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights then took out the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks in six games of each best-of-7 playoff series, before sweeping the Avalanche.
“What John did really well I think is create an ‘us-against-the-world’ mentality for the Vegas Golden Knights, and he got his guys to buy in,” NHL insider Pierre McGuire told CBS Sports. “He knew he wouldn’t be there for a long time, but he knew he wanted to be there for a good time. And he’s created a real good-time atmosphere around his dressing room.”
Tortorella, who doesn’t have a contract past this season, is the third NHL coach all-time to take a team to the Stanley Cup Final after being hired with 10 or fewer games left in the regular season. Roger Neilson, another former Rangers coach, did so with the Vancouver Canucks in 1982, when they were swept by the dynastic Islanders; and Larry Robinson led the Devils to their second Cup title in 2000 with a six-game win over the Dallas Stars.
That Robinson-led Devils team is one of seven in the NHL to win the Stanley Cup after an in-season coaching change. The most recent time it happened was 2019, when Craig Berube stepped in and led the St. Louis Blues to their first championship. The Pittsburgh Penguins did it twice, including in 2015-16 when current Rangers coach Mike Sullivan took over in November and led the Penguins to the Cup title later that spring.
Tortorella’s 777 coaching wins in the regular season are ninth most in League history, and second among United States-born coaches behind only former Rangers bench boss Peter Laviolette (846). Torts’ 171 wins behind the Rangers bench are fifth in franchise history.
The Golden Knights await the winner of the Eastern Conference Final, which the Carolina Hurricanes lead 2-1 heading into Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.
