After his Vegas Golden Knights fell to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games, John Tortorella's Stanley Cup Championship with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004 remains the only championship of his NHL career. Tortorella's team fought hard, and he stuck himself out on a limb when he guaranteed [https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/49037807/pushed-brink-hc-john-tortorella-says-vegas-not-done-yet] that the Golden Knights would return to Raleigh for a Game 7 and even said he was going to leave his clothes in his hotel room. Unfortunately for Tortorella, that didn't happen. The Hurricanes were able to shutout the Golden Knights on their own home ice, with goals scored by Taylor Hall, Jackson Blake, and an empty-netter by Nikolaj Ehlers which gave the Hurricanes a 3-0 victory in Game 6, and clinched them their second Stanley Cup in franchise history, the first of which came 20 years ago in 2006. As for Tortorella, his future in Vegas is up in the air. He was noncommittal about whether or not he'd return [https://www.nhl.com/news/topic/playoffs/john-tortorella-unsure-of-future-with-vegas-golden-knights-after-stanley-cup-final-loss] to the Golden Knights during his post game media availability, and has previously made it seem as if he was only stepping into the role for the remainder of the 2025-26 season. Whether or not Tortorella returns behind the bench next season or not, for the time being, his only Stanley Cup title remains his victory with Tampa Bay more than two decades ago.
