The Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 appeal to have their punishment reduced for breaking media access rules was denied by the NHL and they will lose a second-round pick in the draft this year, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The people spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the league had not announced the result of the team\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n
The league on Friday docked Vegas the second-rounder and fined coach John Tortorella $100,000 for what it called flagrant violations of media regulations. Tortorella refused to speak to reporters and the team did not open its locker room following its second-round-series-clinching Game 6 victory at Anaheim on Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Announcing the sanctions, the NHL said the Golden Knights had been warned previously about not following media and other policies. They were offered the chance to appeal in person to Commissioner Gary Bettman this week, and that ultimately was unsuccessful in getting the pick back or the fine reduced or rescinded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe missed a great opportunity that night to connect with our fans and share with them a victory in a playoff series,\u201d general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. \u201cI\u2019ve always felt in a playoff series, when you win a series, you galvanize with the bond with your fan base. We missed that opportunity by not having John available to do postgame. That\u2019s on John for failing to do that. That\u2019s on me as the general manager of the hockey club.\u201d<\/p>\n
After confirming he was in New York earlier Wednesday to appeal, McCrimmon absolved members of the team\u2019s communications staff for their role in the situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have no explanation other than to say we were wrong and to assure you that it will not happen again,\u201d McCrimmon said \u201cThe league has spoke on the matter. We have spoke on the matter, and neither John nor I will be taking any questions on this.\u201d<\/p>\n
The loss of a second-round pick is the strictest punishment for breaking media access rules in league history. Vegas opens the Western Conference Final on Wednesday night at the Colorado Avalanche.<\/p>\n
Asked Saturday about the punishment, Tortorella told reporters in Las Vegas, \u201cWe put out a statement as an organization, and so we\u2019ll go back that. We have no more comment on that.\u201d That statement said only that the team was aware of the announcement and would have no further comment.<\/p>\n
Tortorella took over as coach on an interim basis when Bruce Cassidy was fired on March 29. The Golden Knights went 7-0-1 in their final eight regular-season games, then beat the Utah Mammoth and the Ducks to make it to the West final for a fourth time in their nine-year existence.<\/p>\n
Now 67, Tortorella coached the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup in 2004. He has been fined $262,000 for various transgressions over his time in the NHL.<\/p>\n
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This story has been corrected to show that it was Game 6, not Game 5, when Tortorella refused to speak to reporters and the team did not open its locker room.<\/p>\n
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AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed.<\/p>\n
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Mitch Marner isn\u2019t about to start bragging, to express any kind of feelings of vindication in proving wrong those who questioned and even doubted whether he could deliver at this time of year.<\/p>\n
There has indeed been magic in Marner\u2019s play as he leads the Vegas Golden Knights into their Western Conference final series that opens Wednesday night at Colorado.<\/p>\n
His 18 points led all NHL skaters through Sunday and includes possibly the goal of the year in Thursday\u2019s 5-1 close-out victory at Anaheim.<\/p>\n
This production is what his hometown Maple Leafs expected when Toronto drafted him fourth overall in 2015. While Marner became one of the NHL\u2019s top play-making forwards, he took the brunt of criticism for the Leafs failing to advance beyond the second round.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care what anyone says,\u201d Marner said. \u201cI\u2019ve been in the league a long time now, so I\u2019ll focus on what I can control.\u201d<\/p>\n
That includes leading the Golden Knights to the NHL\u2019s final four.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the media in Toronto is pretty big and they put a lot of pressure on the players,\u201d Golden Knights wing Ivan Barbashev said. \u201cHe\u2019s showing completely different things over here. He\u2019s been scoring and making a lot of plays, so hopefully he stays the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vegas has never been afraid to chase big names and it has a locker room full of such players. Acquiring Marner in a sign-and-trade was the splash deal of last year\u2019s offseason, reaching an agreement on an eight-year, $96 million contract.<\/p>\n
This postseason is why the Golden Knights pursued him. They followed their 2023 Stanley Cup title team by getting bounced in the first round the following year and the second round last season.<\/p>\n
Marner produced two goals and an assist in Game 6 of the opening series to eliminate Utah 5-1. He had a hat trick and an assist to take back home-ice advantage in Game 3 of Round 2 at Anaheim, and ended that series by setting the tone with a goal 1:02 into the Game 6 clincher that few players on the planet could execute.<\/p>\n
William Karlsson began by hitting Marner in stride with a perfect stretch pass to spring the breakaway. But with Jackson LaCombe staying with Marner, he fought off the Ducks defenseman, turned his back to the goal and shot the puck between his legs to put Vegas ahead 1-0.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis IQ is on a different level,\u201d Barbashev said. \u201cHe plays defensively and is a 200(-foot) player. He does it all.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Tortorella, who became the Golden Knights coach with eight games left in the regular season, sees the same thing about Marner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re with him every day, you can see his habits,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cYou can see the little things he does in the game. Other people see his goals and assists, maybe like the goal he scored the other night. I look at the small things. A lot of people don\u2019t realize how the small things turn to bigger things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tortorella, like Bruce Cassidy before him, hasn\u2019t been afraid to use Marner in a number of ways, be it at center or wing, the first line or the second.<\/p>\n
When the Golden Knights ran a five-forward power play, Marner was the quarterback at the top. Now with defenseman Shea Theodore in that spot with the top unit, the Golden Knights have deployed Marner down lower to better use his ability to score or help someone else find the back of the net.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s even games where the other team carries the game, and they come out on top because of their patience and play-making ability, and Marner has a lot to do with that,\u201d Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. \u201cPower play, short-handed, five-on-five, he plays all situations and is dangerous in all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not that Marner didn\u2019t play at a high level in Toronto. He scored a career-high 102 points in the 2024-25 season, one of four times he topped 90.<\/p>\n
He also produced 13 points in 13 playoff games last year and 14 points in 11 postseason games two years earlier.<\/p>\n
But the Maple Leafs as a team didn\u2019t play up to expectations, and thus the deal to send Marner to Vegas. Now the Golden Knights are a series away from potentially competing in their third Stanley Cup Final in their nine years in the league, and the Maple Leafs failed to reach the playoffs but won the draft lottery.<\/p>\n
Maybe there\u2019s another Marner in their future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always believed I\u2019m a good player,\u201d Marner said. \u201cI\u2019m not thinking of anything, just go out there and try to play hockey.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Vegas Golden Knights (39-26-17, in the Pacific Division) vs. Colorado Avalanche (55-16-11, in the Central Division)<\/p>\n
Denver; Wednesday, 8 p.m. EDT<\/p>\n
LINE: Avalanche -196, Golden Knights +163; over\/under is 6<\/p>\n
STANLEY CUP SEMIFINALS: Avalanche host series opener<\/p>\n
BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Avalanche host the Vegas Golden Knights to start the Western Conference finals. The teams meet Saturday for the fourth time this season. The Avalanche went 2-1 against the Golden Knights during the regular season. In their last regular season matchup on April 11, the Golden Knights won 3-2 in overtime. Pavel Dorofeyev led the Golden Knights with two goals.<\/p>\n
Colorado has a 31-9-6 record in home games and a 55-16-11 record overall. The Avalanche have a 54-6-6 record in games they score three or more goals.<\/p>\n
Vegas is 23-16-8 in road games and 39-26-17 overall. The Golden Knights have gone 45-7-11 when scoring at least three goals.<\/p>\n
TOP PERFORMERS: Brock Nelson has scored 33 goals with 32 assists for the Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon has seven goals and six assists over the last 10 games.<\/p>\n
Mark Stone has 28 goals and 44 assists for the Golden Knights. Dorofeyev has nine goals and two assists over the past 10 games.<\/p>\n
LAST 10 GAMES: Avalanche: 9-1-0, averaging 3.9 goals, 6.2 assists, 3.9 penalties and eight penalty minutes while giving up 2.2 goals per game.<\/p>\n
Golden Knights: 7-3-0, averaging 3.8 goals, 6.1 assists, 3.7 penalties and 8.9 penalty minutes while giving up 2.5 goals per game.<\/p>\n
INJURIES: Avalanche: Artturi Lehkonen: day to day (upper-body), Brent Burns: day to day (undisclosed), Cale Makar: day to day (undisclosed), Sam Malinski: day to day (upper-body).<\/p>\n
Golden Knights: Jeremy Lauzon: out (upper-body), Mark Stone: day to day (lower-body).<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Vegas Golden Knights\u2019 appeal to have their punishment reduced for breaking media access rules was denied by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324161,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-324160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}