Capitals fire former Flyers coach Peter Laviolette after three seasons
Laviolette had just completed his third season with the Capitals. He coached the Flyers from 2009-2013, leading the team to the Stanley Cup in 2009-10.
Friday sure was a tough day to be someone formerly associated with the Flyers. Hours after former goaltender and later general manager Ron Hextall was fired as GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Washington Capitals axed head coach, and former Flyers bench boss, Peter Laviolette.
Laviolette, 58, was let go after the Capitals missed the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons. He had just completed his third year in the nation’s capital, and had amassed a record of 115 wins, 78 losses, and 15 overtime losses with the team. Washington was the fifth NHL franchise that Laviollete has coached, following stops with the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Flyers, and Nashville Predators.
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The 21-year NHL coaching veteran took over as Flyers coach for John Stevens in Dec. 2009, and would go on to coach the team until he was fired just three games into the 2013-14 campaign. In four-plus seasons in Philadelphia, Laviolette posted a record of 145 wins, 98 losses, and 29 overtime defeats.
He led the team to at least the conference semifinals in his first three seasons at the helm, including guiding the Flyers to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season, the franchise’s first Cup appearance in 12 years. There, the Flyers were defeated by the Chicago Blackhawks in six games. The team made a playoff run the following season but surprisingly shook up the roster by trading captain Mike Richards and top goalscorer Jeff Carter on the same day in June, 2011. The retooled Flyers made the second round of the playoffs the following season led by Claude Giroux but missed the postseason entirely in 2012-13. After losing the first three games of the 2013-14 season, former Flyers chairman Ed Snider fired Laviolette on Oct. 7, 2013.
One of the best coaches of his generation, Laviolette ranks eighth on the all-time NHL wins list with 752. His 752 wins are the most by an American coach. Laviolette has led three teams to the Stanley Cup Final, winning it in 2005-06 with the Hurricanes.