A man from Brandon, Manitoba, and another from Boston come together to try and save a hockey team’s season.
That sounds like an awful plot to a buddy cop movie.
Kelly McCrimmon and John Tortorella knew each other prior to March 29, the day the Vegas Golden Knights made the most shocking coaching change in recent NHL memory.
The respect was there. The acknowledgements were there. Let’s just say the two weren’t in a hurry to meet up while in the same town to grab a beer.
Fast forward nearly two months later, and this unlikely partnership — one that still feels surreal, even when the two are sitting together at a podium at The Ritz Carlton in Denver on a Tuesday in May — is two wins away from going to the Stanley Cup Final together.
Surreal might not be a strong enough word to describe the past two months, where the Knights have gone 17-4-1 since Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy, leading to a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference Final against the Colorado Avalanche. Game 3 is at T-Mobile Arena at 5 p.m. on Sunday.
McCrimmon and Tortorella jumped head-first into their new alliance, to say the least. Tortorella coached his first game less than 24 hours after taking the job. McCrimmon, understanding the severity of the situation, knew he was taking the biggest gamble imaginable.
But McCrimmon felt Tortorella’s fiery reputation of bluntness was the kick in the direction his roster needed. The one he’s invested so much in, and one he believes is more than good enough to be the last team standing come June.
In turn, McCrimmon and Tortorella have learned a lot about each other in a short amount of time. How they operate. How they need to work off each other to get the most out of this roster.
Tortorella knew of the Knights’ expectation well before he came in. That’s one thing that didn’t take Tortorella long to adjust to.
“What I’ve learned is, I think it’s a man that’s driven to win, and I think lives it,” Tortorella said of McCrimmon. “I think he lives it every minute of the day.”
Different, but the same
The two hockey minds are more similar than one would think. Las Vegas is their hockey hub. There’s not much interaction with their families, given that they’re both in different parts of the world – McCrimmon’s mostly back in Manitoba, and Tortorella’s on the east coast.
Tortorella said he appreciates how McCrimmon has been able to find that work-life balance, even at this crazy part of the season.
“Also finds time to get a release, too, so you’re sharp the next day,” Tortorella said. “I watch that with him, too, as far as his family.”
Being one with hockey on the brain at almost all times, McCrimmon takes the hockey approach with things. He appreciates how Tortorella conducts himself as a coach and carries respect in the locker room.
That personality may be blunt. It’s also fair.
“I appreciate the sincerity in John,” McCrimmon said. “I’ve always felt you can be really hard on people if they trust you and they know you care in the moment. If you’re hard on them, you can build that trust. And I think John does that in spades.
“He doesn’t look the other way. It doesn’t matter which player you are. If he feels he needs to address something, he addresses it. He has no hesitation to address it in front of everybody so that everybody knows it.”
It was a gamble for McCrimmon to make such a change, moving on from the coach that led the Knights to their first Stanley Cup championship in 2023.
It’s no secret Cassidy and Tortorella are completely different personalities. They’re intense in their own ways. They deliver messages differently. Hence why the players felt Cassidy’s was getting stale, no matter how much respect they have for him.
Tortorella has been able to take a step back in his hands-on approach with coaching because he trusts the group McCrimmon has given him. That’s part of the veteran leadership established, and the group of players that have already won.
“I do think, when I was brought in, that there was a little bit of a lull as far as the confidence of it,” Tortorella said. “I felt we hit that right away, found a way to win some games, and that solves some problems. That gives them some swagger right away.”
Finding their stride
It’s a team that finished the regular season 7-0-1 to win a fifth Pacific Division title in nine years. One that fell behind 2-1 in the first round to the Utah Mammoth before reeling off three straight wins. The same group that took a 2-2 series back to T-Mobile Arena for Game 5 against Anaheim, won in overtime, then dominated in the clinching Game 6.
And now it’s a group that’s pulled off the stunner of the playoffs — two road wins against the best team in the NHL, both in convincing fashion, and two wins from the franchise’s third trip to the Stanley Cup Final in nine years.
“I think it gave them a lot of confidence,” McCrimmon said. “There’s times where a change has some benefits. I think he’s been able to catch them doing things right. We’ve got the best of Torts. I think he’s really enjoying his time here. I think he’s loved every minute of it, so that enthusiasm is infectious.”
Tortorella said what impresses him about McCrimmon is being involved in the locker room, but not in an over-bearing sense.
It can be a learning tool, he said, for both coaches and players, when the general manager isn’t as hands-on, but the presence is felt when he’s near the room.
McCrimmon, in kind, thinks Tortorella is genuine in how much he cares in dealing with players, and that his team appreciates it. Tortorella has always believed that coaches get too much credit when things go right, and too much blame when things go wrong.
It’s been nothing but right so far, even with plenty of hockey left to go. But the Knights’ new buddy cop movie is on its way to having a satisfying ending.
“I love being around it because it’s just obvious that it’s about winning,” Tortorella said. “I just love being around it.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
Up next
Who: Avalanche at Golden Knights
What: Western Conference Final, Game 3 (Knights lead 2-0)
When: 5 p.m. Sunday
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV: ESPN
Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM
Line: Avalanche -140; total 6
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Series schedule:
Game 1: Knights 4, Avalanche 2
Game 2: Knights 3, Avalanche 1
Game 3: Sunday, 5 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN)
Game 4: Tuesday, 6 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN)
*Game 5: Thursday, 5 p.m. at Ball Arena (ESPN)
*Game 6: May 30, 5 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena (ABC)
*Game 7: June 1, 5 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena (ESPN)
*if necessary
