By Jordan Long
The Washington Capitals have hired Peter Laviolette as their next Head Coach. The deal is going to be 3 years, but the financial terms of the deal weren’t announced.
Washington’s Head Coaching job opened up after the Capitals fired Todd Reirden on August 24th. Reirden coached the Capitals to an 89-46-16 record in the regular season. The Capitals made the postseason both years under him. Last year Washington lost in the 1st-round.
This season Washington went 41-20-8. After the COVID restart, they were in the round robin to determine the top 4 seeds in the Eastern Conference. Washington ended up as the 3rd seed and faced the New York Islanders. They were expecting better results. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. They were knocked off in the 1st-round again. Against the Islanders in the 1st-round, the Capitals didn’t play well. Washington was outscored 17-8 including being shutout in game 5. The Capitals decided it was time to move on from Reirden because they didn’t have success in the postseason.
The Capitals conducted a coaching search and wanted one with Head Coaching experience in the NHL. The finalist for the job were Laviolette, Mike Babcock, and Gerard Gallant who all had NHL Head Coaching knowledge. The Capitals decided Laviolette is the right man moving forward. According to ESPN, Laviolette said, “I’m thankful and excited for the opportunity to lead this hockey club. This is a winning organization with high expectations. I look forward to coaching this tremendous group of players and bringing my experience and vision to the team.”
Laviolette brings 18 years of NHL Head Coaching experience to Washington. Laviolette coached the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, and Nashville Predators. His overall record in the regular season is 637 wins, 425 losses, 25 ties, and 123 overtime losses. Laviolette’s teams advanced to the postseason 11 times. He won the Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006. Laviolette coached Philadelphia and Nashville to the Final only to lose it.
This past season, Laviolette was fired by Nashville on January 7th. At the time Nashville was 19-15-7. They were in danger of missing the postseason for the 1st time since 2014. Nashville felt it was time for a change.
Washington knows they are a talented team who is probably going to make the postseason. They needed a coach to take them back to the Stanley Cup Final. Laviolette is hopefully going to do that with this team. He has 3 years to do it. The only way this fails is if Laviolette isn’t able to help them advance far in the postseason. On paper, this is the right move.
Leave a Reply