Tortorella leaves open possibility of return to Golden Knights - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — The Vegas Golden Knights were still digesting their 3-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final on Sunday when coach John Tortorella was asked what's next for him with the club — and whether he'd be back behind the bench after a brief stint with the team that ended in utter disappointment.

«I haven't even [considered it],» Tortorella said. «I have to swallow [this loss] first.»

That was a different message than what Tortorella had conveyed just last week in an interview with Sportsnet. At that time, Tortorella said «end of June, I'm done, as far as with Vegas.» That seemed to reflect the arrangement Tortorella had with Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon in stepping in for Cassidy in the latter stages of the Golden Knights' regular season; he was a short-term solution to take the team through what it hoped would be a Cup-winning spring.

Vegas ultimately fell short of that goal, but Tortorella — who was brought in to replace the fired Bruce Cassidy on March 29 and guide Vegas through its final eight regular-season games and into the playoffs — didn't immediately double-down on being done in the desert. McCrimmon said he felt the Golden Knights had «lost their spirit» under Cassidy and tapped Tortorella to bring it back. Vegas responded by going 7-1 to finish the regular season and then advanced deep into the playoffs. Coming up short — on home ice, no less — was a difficult reality to face.

«Wild year, crazy year,» Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb said. «We came together as a group late in the year. Torts came in late in the year and did a great job. This is going to sting; it's going to haunt us. But we are proud of how we got here and how we played. Unfortunately, it just