Peter Laviolette

Peter Philip Laviolette Jr. (born December 7, 1964) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former player who is the current head coach for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He was previously the head coach of the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, and Washington Capitals.

He played 12 games in the NHL for the New York Rangers during the 1988–89 season, but failed to record a point.

Laviolette also played for the United States in the Olympics twice (1988 and 1994).

He began his coaching career as head coach of the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers.

In one season as coach, he led his team to a 37–24–9 record and a berth in the playoffs, wherein they lost in the third round.

He left Wheeling to take over the head coaching job for the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League (AHL).

In 1998–99, he coached the team to a 56–15–4 regular-season record.

In the playoffs, Providence won the AHL Calder Cup Championship with a 15–4 playoff record.

Laviolette was named the AHL Coach of the Year.

Laviolette's success in the AHL earned him a stint as an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins.

Having grown up in the Boston suburb of Franklin, Laviolette was disappointed when he did not get the head coaching job in Boston after that season so he left for the head coaching job on Long Island.

He became head coach of the New York Islanders in 2001.

After taking over the New York Islanders, which had missed the playoffs for seven years prior to his arrival, he led his team to the playoffs in both seasons he was there.

His first season in New York, the Islanders earned 96 points (42–28–8–4 record), nearly winning the Atlantic Division before losing in the first round to the Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games.

The Islanders snuck into the playoffs the following season and then lost in five games to the Ottawa Senators in the first round.

On June 3, 2003, he was fired by general manager Mike Milbury.

Laviolette came to the Carolina Hurricanes as head coach in the 2003–04 season, taking over following the firing of Paul Maurice.

In his first season, he coached 52 games during a rebuilding year.

Laviolette led the Hurricanes to an excellent regular season during his second year at the helm, winning the Southeast Division with 112 points (52–22–8 record).

He led the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup win in 2006, and later coached the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2010, and the Predators in 2017.

Laviolette is the fourth coach in NHL history to lead three teams to the Stanley Cup Finals.

He played 12 NHL games, all with the New York Rangers.

On October 13, 2021, Laviolette won his 647th game as an NHL head coach, passing John Tortorella to become the winningest American-born head coach in league history.

In February 2022, Laviolette became the 10th head coach in NHL history to record 700 wins.

Laviolette was born in Franklin, Massachusetts, and attended Franklin High School, where he played baseball and ice hockey.

He played college ice hockey at Westfield State College in Westfield, Massachusetts.

As a player, Laviolette spent the majority of his 10-year career playing for various minor league teams.

He also coached the U.S. Olympic men's hockey team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

The Hurricanes won their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history during the 2006 playoffs, after winning two very close seven-game playoff series over the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers.

Laviolette was the fourth American-born coach to win it.

He was also the runner-up for the Jack Adams Award for the NHL's Coach of the Year, which was awarded to Lindy Ruff in the closest vote ever recorded for this award, 155–154.

After winning their first Stanley Cup, Laviolette's Hurricanes suffered through an injury-plagued 2006–07 season that saw the team finish with a disappointing 40–34–8 record.

The next season, the team once again got off to a poor start, but held first place in a weak division for most of the season, despite having a sub-.500 record until February.

The team then got hot and built what was seen as a solid lead.

However, the Washington Capitals got red hot in the final weeks, Carolina lost several games down the stretch, and Laviolette's group missed the post-season.

On November 7, 2008, following his 240th victory, Laviolette moved past John Tortorella to become the winningest American-born coach in the NHL.

On December 3, 2008, Laviolette was fired as coach of the Hurricanes and replaced by his predecessor, Paul Maurice.

Laviolette worked on the panel for the TV network TSN.

Tortorella later eclipsed this record in 2009, and after several years of being within a few wins of each other, Laviolette regained the lead in 2021 while coaching the Washington Capitals.