‘Guidance counselor’ John Tortorella putting Knights on right playoff path

A hockey rink might be the closest thing John Tortorella has to a home right now.

Standing in a fluorescent hallway near the visitor’s locker room of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, the realization set in. Tortorella has lived out of nothing but hotels since arriving in Las Vegas.

He settled into his lodgings at Red Rock Resort the moment he hopped off the plane as the Vegas Golden Knights’ new leader. He coached his first game less than 24 hours later.

Tortorella spent more time at City National Arena, the Knights’ practice facility, during his first week — getting to know the building, where certain rooms are — than the place he can lay his head.

“I haven’t been there that much,” Tortorella said, chuckling.

Then came a four-game, 10-day road trip with stops in Edmonton, Vancouver, Seattle and Denver.

More hotels. More airplanes. Flying by the seat of his pants without a parachute, likely surviving on adrenaline and copious amounts of caffeine.

Eight games in three weeks. That was the challenge given to Tortorella when he was named the fourth coach in Knights history on March 29, replacing Stanley Cup-winning coach Bruce Cassidy less than four seasons on the job.

“It’s different, for sure. I’ve never done it coming in so late,” Tortorella said the morning of April 9 in Seattle. “But the thing I rest on is the team itself — what type of guys they are, the leadership in the room. Battle-tested, most of this group here is.”

Tortorella didn’t have time to overhaul the gameplan. He openly admits he’s not one to dive too much time into the X’s and O’s. Tortorella’s approach is coaching the mind, getting the most out of the players with an attack-first mindset.

The Knights didn’t have time to adjust. General manager Kelly McCrimmon made the call. It was on the players, as Tortorella said in the days leading up to the end of the season, to remember how good they are.

Message received. The Knights went 7-0-1 under Tortorella and powered their way to a fifth Pacific Division title in their nine-year history.

That’s eight playoff appearances in those nine years, with the latest installment starting on Sunday in the first round against the Utah Mammoth.

“We all got to be the best version of ourselves each and every day. They’ve applied themselves,” Tortorella said. “I’m very fortunate coming into this type of group because they get it. They know where we’re at in the season, and they know what’s ahead of us here, what we need to do.”

Trying to recapture the magic

Tortorella, the two-time Jack Adams award winner for coach of the year, is returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the 13th time.

Tortorella’s 23-year tenure as a head coach started in 2000 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was a stretch that ran more than six years, including his first and only Stanley Cup championship in 2004.

The South Florida run ended in 2008 after missing the playoffs following four straight appearances.

He joined the New York Rangers in Feb. 2009. Tortorella took the Rangers to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012, the franchise’s first appearance since 1997. They made the playoffs in all but one season.

Following an eventful one-year run in Vancouver — including a six-game suspension for charging the Calgary Flames locker room after the first period, and not starting franchise icon Roberto Luongo in the 2014 Heritage Classic — Tortorella took a year off before the Columbus Blue Jackets hired him in October 2015.

That sparked a six-year run in Columbus that included four straight trips to the playoffs, highlighted by what’s considered the biggest upset in playoff history, when the Blue Jackets swept the 128-point Lightning in the first round for the franchise’s first series win.

He followed that rebuild with another one in Philadelphia. The Flyers, before this season, went five years without making the playoffs. Tortorella helped push the team in the right direction, but was ultimately let go with eight games left last season.

Those stops in Columbus and Philadelphia forced Tortorella to reshape his thinking. It was different this time around.

Tortorella came to the realization while on the plane to Las Vegas that he didn’t think he needed to over-coach this group. To pick his spots when to make himself present with his voice and straight-to-the-point demeanor.

“I’m kind of like a guidance counselor,” Tortorella said. “If I feel they’re going off the road, I just got to guide them back on the road and they’ll take it from there. That’s a really important part.

“It doesn’t change accountability. I’m always going to hold people accountable, but just pick your spots. It’s a good group. It’s a good team.”

From Bristol to Vegas

It’s also not like Tortorella was just sitting on his couch when he got the call from McCrimmon.

He kept himself busy in the analyst’s chair at ESPN, his second stint with the network. Tortorella got to watch a lot of games. In turn, he got a feel for how other teams play. He valued listening to the coaches after a win or a tough loss.

Tortorella said ESPN “treated me so well.”

“I used it as kind of a platform to stay involved and keep myself sharp,” he said. “There’s changes in the game all the time, and if you don’t keep up with what’s going on in the game, you’re going to get lost. It gave me an opportunity to just stay focused on what the league’s doing, the style of play. Very fortunate I had the opportunity. I’ve got to basically, stay in the league that way.”

Tortorella, 67, has developed a reputation for being a fiery coach — one who is never afraid to speak his mind about his own team, the officials, or occasionally someone on the other team.

He hasn’t grilled his new team yet. Winning helps with that. The playoffs are a different animal, and the Knights are rolling into the postseason not having faced much adversity yet.

The world is waiting for how Tortorella will respond, how his team will respond, when the Knights have their backs against the wall.

So far, Tortorella’s message has resonated and stuck. It’s a different tune than when Cassidy’s message got “stale” toward the end of March.

“Torts, he’s been around for a long time,” said defenseman Noah Hanifin. “He’s got great energy behind the bench. He just kind of keeps your mind sharp. He keeps us engaged in the game. He keeps individual ready to perform. He’s been awesome for the group.”

Remember who you are

Not that Tortorella is expecting perfect hockey, but he knows there have been moments where they could be better.

The first period against the Avalanche on April 11 was a perfect example, where Tortorella said the Knights gave the Presidents’ Trophy winners “too much respect” in the first period.

That was when Tortorella began coining the ideology of reminding his players of how good they are.

“Sometimes you need that,” center Jack Eichel said. “At times you need a reminder, and he’s not wrong. We have a really good hockey team here and we need to believe in ourselves and each other.”

Said McCrimmon: “He’s a great communicator. He’s very respected in the industry. Experienced, comfortable in his own skin.”

The Knights have averaged 4.13 goals under Tortorella while giving up 1.88. Offense has come alive. Goaltending has taken a step forward with Carter Hart winning his first six starts since returning from injury.

The primary focus Tortorella wants to stress is that it’s OK to make mistakes, as long as they’re playing through them aggressively. Tortorella also knows he doesn’t have to correct every mistake himself because he can trust this team, rather than trying to reel in a young team when things go haywire.

“It takes time,” he said. “Toward the latter part of my career, I’ve done a lot of work in coaching the mind and mindset, and just how hard you go about it. How you present yourself. It’s a big part of what I think brings success. That’s what I’ve really delved into.”

Tortorella never lost the desire to get back into coaching while at ESPN. He wasn’t petitioning for jobs, but if one came around, no way he was saying no.

He’s signed for the rest of this year. A deep playoff run would almost guarantee a contract extension, should Tortorella want to continue.

That would mean a more stable living situation, leaving the hotel part to the road trips. Maybe one where his wife, Christine, can join him later on, and one with a lot large enough where their animals can roam.

“Hopefully I’ll get out of (Red Rock) and find some place to rent for a while,” Tortorella said.

Up next

Who: Mammoth at Golden Knights

What: Game 1, first round

When: 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: T-Mobile Arena

TV: KMCC-34

Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM

Line: Knights -165; total 5½