John Tortorella hasn't closed the door on coaching at 68, some two months after his latest, brief stint ended two wins short of a Stanley Cup and not being rehired by the Vegas Golden Knights.
“Oh, I want to coach,” Tortorella told The Athletic this week in a story posted on Friday. “I want to coach now. I’m not sure if that happens, and that’s where I am in my career. But I wanted to coach that Vegas team. I told (general manager Kelly McCrimmon) that.”
Tortorella’s tenure in Vegas began with him replacing the fired Bruce Cassidy with eight games left in the regular season. And it ended in mid-June with the Golden Knights losing the Stanley Cup Final in six games to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Though Tortorella pushed for his return, he said he respected McCrimmon's decision to promote minor-league coach Ryan Craig.
“They’ve been developing (Craig) for a number of years there,” he said. “He’s a good coach and a good man.”
Tortorella has 24 seasons of NHL head-coaching experience, with the Golden Knights representing his seventh stop — including two separate tenures with the New York Rangers. He enjoyed his longest stint with Tampa Bay, spanning 2000-01 to 2007-08, during which he won his only Stanley Cup in 2004. He also coached in Columbus, Philadelphia and Vancouver.
From Boston, Tortorella is sixth on the NHL list and first among U.S.-born coaches with 1,628 games coached. Tortorella’s 777 career wins rank second among U.S.-born coaches behind Peter Laviolette’s 846. With a 70-72 career playoff record, he’s 20th on the NHL list in wins.
Tortorella lamented coming up short on winning a second Cup.
“I guess the word I’d use is disappointed,” Tortorella said.
“We didn’t finish the job, and I wanted some more time with that club to try to finish the job. That’s not my call. That’s the general manager and president’s call,” he added. “You just get about your business after that.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL
FILE - Vegas Golden Knights head coach John Tortorella speaks after a win over the Utah Mammoth in Game 6 in the first round of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series May 1, 2026, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Melissa Majchrzak, File)
CHICAGO (AP) — Azzi Fudd of the Dallas Wings became the first rookie to win the WNBA All-Star 3-point contest, scoring 30 points in the championship round Friday night
The No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft hit her first six shots in the finals to get into rhythm. She edged Bridget Carleton, from the expansion Portland Fire, who had 29 points in the opening round.
Carleton got off to a slow start in the finals and couldn't recover, finishing with 19 points.
Fudd's total matched Sabrina Ionescu's winning number from last season. Fudd's Dallas teammate Alysha Clark was wearing a Fudd's No. 3 jersey.
Elena Delle Donne, Shakira Austin and high schooler Jezelle Banks led team Washington to the Shooting Stars championship to tipoff the All-Star festivities. The trio scored 31 points to edge Seattle’s three in the finals, with Banks hitting two of the 4-point shots from just inside halfcourt to put the team over the top.
Carleton had a stellar first-round, scoring 29 points. She hit 13 of her first 16 shots. Fudd, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft this past April by Dallas, also had a great opening round scoring 24 points. She made four of her final five shots.
Carleton’s hot shooting in the opening round brought the crowd, which included Jayson Tatum, Russell Westbrook, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Dwyane Wade and Sheryl Swoopes, to its feet.
Other players in 3-point contest were Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard, who scored 20 points, Golden State’s Janelle Salaun, who had 19 points; Toronto’s Marina Mabrey, who had 18 and Minnesota’s Natisha Heideman, who had 17.
In the Shooting Stars competition, Seattle had 24 points to finish as runner-up after missing all of the team’s 4-point shots.
This was the first year that the contest was conducted. A skills competition was done in previous All-Star weekends. The format was a two-round, timed shooting competition in which teams had 70 seconds to score as many points as possible from seven shooting locations around the court. The competition featured shots ranging from a layup to the 4-pointer.
Washington had the highest score in the preliminary round, posting 35 points. Once again, Banks hit 4-point shots to help her team reach the championship round.
Seattle’s squad needed to beat the 20 points that the Detroit/Dallas team put up to advance to the finals. High schooler Tatianna Griffin hit two of the 4-point shots to help Seattle reach the finals. Minnesota finished in fourth with 19 points with a team of Courtney Williams, Rebbekah Brunson and Ryan Carter.
Detroit/Dallas had former Shock great Deanna Nolan, Wings All-Star Jessica Shepard and high schooler Morghan Reckley.
The new CBA gave Fudd $20,000 for winning the 3-point contest and each participant received $10,000. That’s about eight-times last season’s prize money.
Each shooting stars winner received $15,000. Each competitor, not including the high school players, will receive $7,500. Last year, the winners of the skills contest each received $2,575 from the WNBA.
In addition Aflac, like it has the past two years, gave extra money to the winners. Fudd took home $40,000 for winning the 3-point contest. Carleton received $30,000 for finishing second and Howard got $15,000 for placing third.
Team Washington got $40,000 from Aflac with Seattle receiving $32,500 and Dallas $12,500.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
WNBA All Star Paige Buckers shoots during practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
WNBA All Star Angel Reese shoots during practice at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)
