Being fired by Rangers ‘actually a good thing,’ former coach declares
It appears Peter Laviolette isn’t exactly pining for his old job as coach of the New York Rangers. In fact, he seems to rather quite enjoy the freedom that comes from not being behind an NHL bench for the first time in more than two decades.
The Rangers fired Laviolette on April 19, two days after one of the most exhausting and disappointing seasons in franchise history. They were the fourth NHL team all-time to win the Presidents’ Trophy one season and fail to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs the next.
“It was actually a good thing to take a minute,” Laviolette told The Leafs Nation crew on Tuesday. “I just think when you’ve been in it that long — I think it’s approaching 25 years of straight go — I don’t think it’s a bad thing to take a skip for a second and catch your breath. It allows you to re-set. It allows you to just rejuvenate, think about what you want to do, if you want to come back.”
Laviolette’s first season as an NHL coach was in 2001-02, when he guided the New York Islanders to the postseason at the age of 37. He coached in the NHL every season since, including the previous two with the Rangers. Now soon to be 61, Laviolette’s spending his extra free time doing “just cool stuff I haven’t had the chance to.”
That includes attending a pair of weddings that he would’ve skipped if still tethered to the NHL schedule. And traveling to Scotland with his family to watch his daughter’s boyfriend, a professional golfer from Australia, play the historic St. Andrews course.
Laviolette’s living full time in Florida, and looked tanned and fit in the interview that was posted online. He now sports a neatly trimmed beard, and doesn’t look anywhere near as haggard as he did at the end of his coaching tenure with the Rangers.
Though he wasn’t asked about his Broadway exit or last season’s dysfunction that led to him being fired, Laviolette did mention that he still watches Rangers games on TV. He also follows the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks closely since two of his former assistants have jobs now with those teams. Dan Muse is head coach of the Penguins, and Michael Peca is a Blackhawks assistant.
Ex-Rangers coach Peter Laviolette says another NHL job not ‘imminent for me’
Laviolette is the winningest United States-born coach in NHL history, and is seventh all-time with 846 victories. In 1,594 games behind the bench in the NHL with the Rangers, Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Islanders, Laviolette is 846-562-161 with 25 ties.
He led the Hurricanes to their only Stanley Cup championship in 2006, and guided the Flyers (2010) and Predators (2017) to the Stanley Cup Final. In 2023-24, he coached the Rangers to franchise records for wins (55) and points (114) in a season, and helped them reach the Eastern Conference Final.
So, does Laviolette have the itch to get back to work in the NHL?
“Right now, for me, honestly, I’m just watching games, talking to some of my friends around the League, some of my coaches, and stuff like that. Just taking a minute,” he stated. “Where it goes from here? Right now there’s nothing that’s available, there’s nothing that I’m doing, there’s nothing imminent for me. But I do love my job and what I do. We’ll see what happens.”
Twice before Laviolette’s been hired with the regular season already underway — in 2003-04 by the Hurricanes, and 2009-10 by the Flyers. But he’s clearly not consumed by any potential career options which might be ahead.
“More than think about what’s next, I’ve just been taking a minute to enjoy what’s on my plate and what’s in front of me because these are things I really haven’t had the chance to in the past 25 years.”
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