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Laviolette hired as new Capitals Coach .....


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https://www.nhl.com/news/washington-capitals-hire-peter-laviolette-as-coach/c-319033352

 

Peter Laviolette was hired as coach of the Washington Capitals on Tuesday.

 

Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said he wanted to hire an experienced coach to get more out of a veteran roster that includes left wing Alex Ovechkin, who turns 35 on Sept. 17, center Nicklas Backstrom, who turns 33 on Nov. 23, right wing T.J. Oshie, who turns 34 on Dec. 23, and defenseman John Carlson, who turns 31 on Jan. 10.

 

Laviolette fits that description.

 

The 55-year-old has coached 18 seasons in the NHL with the New York Islanders (2001-2003) Carolina Hurricanes (2003-2008), Philadelphia Flyers (2009-2013) and Nashville Predators (2014-2020), going 637-425-123 with 25 ties and qualifying for the playoffs 11 times. Laviolette won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006 and reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 with Philadelphia before losing to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games and in 2017 with Nashville, a six-game loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Edited by TropicalFruitGirl26
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Capitals hire Peter Laviolette as new head coach

 
 
 

Peter Laviolette will be the next head coach of the Capitals, the team announced on Tuesday.

 

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, it’s a three-year deal that will come in at just under $14 million total.

 

“Peter is a successful NHL head coach who has won a Stanley Cup and brings a wealth of experience to our team,” said GM Brian MacLellan. “We feel he is a great communicator who will motivate our players to play with passion, structure and discipline, while helping our young players reach their potential.

 

In addition, he is a high-character individual who is highly respected for his coaching pedigree, all of which make him the ideal person to lead our team to compete for the Stanley Cup.”

 

Todd Reirden, who Laviolette is replacing, was fired last month after two seasons and has since joined the Penguins as an assistant.

 

In his career, Laviolette has a 637 wins in 1,210 NHL games coached with four different franchises. He won a Stanley Cup in three trips to the Cup Final.

 

Laviolette was fired by the Predators in January after five and a half seasons in Nashville. There he led them to the postseason five times, which included a trip to the 2017 Cup Final. He was set to run the bench of the U.S. entry into the 2020 IIHF World Championship, but the global COVID-19 pandemic forced the tournament to be canceled.

This is only the second coach who Alex Ovechkin will play for who isn’t in their first NHL gig. Another former Predators coach, Barry Trotz, was the only non-first timer the the Russian superstar has played under. With an aging Capitals’ core, the Cup window remains open. This was not a time to gamble on another rookie.

Gerald Gallant and Mike Babcock were reportedly also in the running.

 

“We have an experienced group,” MacLellan said after Reirden’s firing. “We need someone to come in and push some buttons on some players — some good players.

 

I think one thing that happened for us in the bubble is our structure didn’t seem to be there. We couldn’t find team structure. I know individuals were working hard individually, but as a team, a team structure, resulted or was a big cause of our performance in Toronto. We’re going to need someone that can come in and establish that as a big part of our identity.”

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5 hours ago, notfondajane said:

I missed why Nashville let him go? I thought he did well in Music town!

 

Good question.

At first glance, I would say that the Predators severely underperformed and certainly disappointed not getting past the play-in series. 
Also, that team seems to be trending downward, and well, you know how it is in sports.... someone has to take the fall, and many times it's the manager or head coach.

So Laviolette's head rolled because ownership felt the Preds should have been much more than they were.

But, Nashville's loss in this case, is Washington's gain.
Laviolette has become sort of a "fix it man" type head coach.
The kind you bring in when your team ship needs to be righted and sent in a contending direction. He DOES seem to have a shelf life, but seems wherever he's been, he has either found success in winning it all (Carolina), or helped trend teams in a winning direction once he arrived (Islanders, Flyers, Predators).

He also has a winning history in the minors as well, suggesting he knows how to get the most out of young talent.

Interesting to see what he can do with a Washington club that really, many still look at as regular contenders.
Maybe he will do for the Caps what he did for the Flyers? That is to say, take a team that was doing well, who then fell off, and just got them back on track again.

One thing is for sure....he should have more high end talent to work with on the Caps than he did on the Preds. 
Provided Washington's front office makes good decisions on certain RFA players and good decisions on UFA's that should be allowed to leave and ones that should probably be retained.

Ohhhhh, and Laviolette may need a goalie as it seems one Mr. Holtby is set to test the FA market.
Are Samsonov and Copley enough? Is the young Russian, in particular, the real deal?
We will see.

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34 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

 

Good question.

At first glance, I would say that the Predators severely underperformed and certainly disappointed not getting past the play-in series. 
Also, that team seems to be trending downward, and well, you know how it is in sports.... someone has to take the fall, and many times it's the manager or head coach.

So Laviolette's head rolled because ownership felt the Preds should have been much more than they were.

But, Nashville's loss in this case, is Washington's gain.
Laviolette has become sort of a "fix it man" type head coach.
The kind you bring in when your team ship needs to be righted and sent in a contending direction. He DOES seem to have a shelf life, but seems wherever he's been, he has either found success in winning it all (Carolina), or helped trend teams in a winning direction once he arrived (Islanders, Flyers, Predators).

He also has a winning history in the minors as well, suggesting he knows how to get the most out of young talent.

Interesting to see what he can do with a Washington club that really, many still look at as regular contenders.
Maybe he will do for the Caps what he did for the Flyers? That is to say, take a team that was doing well, who then fell off, and just got them back on track again.

One thing is for sure....he should have more high end talent to work with on the Caps than he did on the Preds. 
Provided Washington's front office makes good decisions on certain RFA players and good decisions on UFA's that should be allowed to leave and ones that should probably be retained.

Ohhhhh, and Laviolette may need a goalie as it seems one Mr. Holtby is set to test the FA market.
Are Samsonov and Copley enough? Is the young Russian, in particular, the real deal?
We will see.

I'm curious on how he handles the "older" players that are in their early to mid 30' s.( Ovechkin) there's a few that names escape me. It should be interesting 2020/21. BTW do you know when next season will start? I heard it is to start around the beginning of December! That's supposed to be tentatively speaking tho!

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Nashville was last in the Central and was not even in playoff contention. They had problems in defense, in goaltending and many forwards were playing way below their standards. In place for several years, they thought the team needed a different message.

 

Replacing him by Hayes was dumb though, The Preds didn't get any better. Poile used to be very good but a couple of bad transactions (the Turris deal, the Fiala trade) considerably darkened their sky.

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