John Tortorella was calling Nic Dowd by the wrong name in his first game as Golden Knights head coach

John Tortorella made his coaching debut for the Vegas Golden Knights, leading them to a 4-2 comeback victory against the Vancouver Canucks. Despite the win, Tortorella acknowledged his coaching was not perfect, admitting to confusion over player names, specifically calling Nic Dowd by a different name. Teammates confirmed the mix-up, humorously noting that Tortorella mistakenly referred to Dowd as 'Wardo,' a nickname of assistant coach Joel Ward. The players found the situation amusing and plan to keep the nickname as a light-hearted jab at their new coach.

"There was some rust. I think for half the game and the boys let me do it, I was calling Dowd by a different name, and I didn't even realize I was doing it."

"It was funny. He was calling Dowder 'Wardo' for a bit. He must've had the assistant coach in his head when he was calling out lines."

"Yeah. Yeah, he kept saying 'Wardo' on the bench. I don't know [why]. I don't know, I think we're all asking ourselves that."

"We'll see how long we can play it out for before it isn't funny."

Read at RMNB