NHL upholds Vegas Golden Knights sanctions over media policy violations after appeal
The Vegas Golden Knights’ punishment for violating the NHL’s media regulations will stand.
The Golden Knights appealed their sanctions in New York on Tuesday morning, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan, though the league determined quickly that the penalties will remain in place as originally assessed.
So, the Golden Knights will be without a second-round draft pick this offseason and head coach John Tortorella will have to pay a $100,000 fine.
The NHL issued the punishment initially on Friday after what it described as “flagrant violations” of the league’s Stanley Cup playoff media regulations. Most of the team declined to speak to reporters after their 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, which closed out their series and sent them into the Western Conference Final. Vegas did not open the dressing room to the media after the game, either, and Tortorella did not speak with reporters.
While that was one incident, the NHL said that the Golden Knights had been issued previous warnings about complying with media policies. According to ESPN, this was a pattern of behavior for the franchise.
Neither the Knights nor Tortorella addressed the incident on Saturday, and only pointed to a brief two-sentence statement when asked by reporters.
“The Golden Knights are aware of today’s announcement from the NHL regarding the postgame media availability following Game 6 in Anaheim,” the team said on Friday. “The organization will have no further comment.”
Tortorella was hired by Vegas in March after the team split with Bruce Cassidy with just three weeks left in the regular season. Tortorella had previously been working as an ESPN analyst.
The Golden Knights will now not have a pick until the third round of the NHL Draft next month. The team had previously traded away its first-round pick to land Noah Hanifin in 2024.
The Knights and the Colorado Avalanche will open the Western Conference Final on Wednesday night in Denver.
