Peter Laviolette (Westfield State) was relieved of his duties last week as head coach of the New York Rangers after just two years at the helm. He is the only coach in NHL history to take six different teams to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Laviolette, 60, led the Rangers to a 55-23-4 overall mark in 2023-24 and the President's Trophy as the top NHL team in the regular season. New York then fell to eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida in the Eastern Conference final. This year, the Rangers dropped to 39-36-7 and missed the postseason.
A Franklin, Mass. native, Laviolette began his NHL head coaching career in 2001-02 with a two-year stint with the New York Islanders. He then spent five years with Carolina, leading the Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup championship in 2006. He has also helmed Philadelphia, Nashville and Washington in his 23-year NHL tenure, fashioning a record of 846-562-25 in regular-season play and an 88-82 ledger in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He is also the all-time winningest American-born head coach in NHL history.
A member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team, Laviolette played 11 years professionally after skating for four years on defense at Westfield State, including 12 NHL games with the Rangers, before retiring after the 1996-97 campaign. He then began his coaching career in 1997-98 with one year with Wheeling (ECHL), and then spent two years with Providence (AHL), winning a Calder Cup with the P-Bruins, while serving as head coach with both organizations. He then joined the Islanders after serving as an assistant with Boston in 2000-01.
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