[News] Preds hire Laviolette

[MissTeeks]

Nashville Predators‏@PredsNHL33 secs

. @PredsNHL announce hiring of Peter Laviolette as 2nd head coach in team history to multi-year contract Read more -> http://bit.ly/1on9Mr1

Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced today that the club has hired 2006 Stanley Cup-winning coach Peter Laviolette as the second head coach in team history and signed him to a multi-year contract. Also joining the coaching staff is Kevin McCarthy, who will serve as an assistant alongside Lane Lambert and Phil Housley.

“Having reached the peak as a Stanley Cup Champion, Peter knows the intensity and urgency it will take to help our team reach its ultimate goal,” Poile said. “He is a great hockey mind who not only has a winning resume, but has done it with an aggressive offensive philosophy while also excelling in helping young players reach their potential. We look forward to Peter instilling his culture in Nashville immediately following his duties coaching the United States at the 2014 World Championship.”

“I love the nucleus of this team, starting on the back end with two of the best players at their positions in defenseman Shea Weber and goaltender Pekka Rinne, in addition to a solid group of dependable veterans and talented, rising young talent,” Laviolette said. “My challenge will be to impart a system that enables our young forwards to thrive and reach their offensive potential. Being a perennial Stanley Cup contender requires buy-in, passion and commitment from every player on the roster. I can’t wait to get to Nashville and get started on our journey.”

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Not an awful choice.

Although Laviolette likes that high-tempo offense and I'm quite sure he won't get it out of the group he has.

[dammage79]

Lavoilette deserves to coach in the NHL IMO. Good for him. There are certainly some good young offensive minded players coming up through Nashville's system now so theres a good chance that Laviolette can get the solid defensive tam to open up a bit and create some success.

[devo22]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

Not an awful choice.

Although Laviolette likes that high-tempo offense and I'm quite sure he won't get it out of the group he has.

they are slowly getting there though. Forsberg and Jarnkrok are the most skilled young forwards they've had in forever.

Good choice IMO. With all the coaching vacancies, it was clear he'd get an opportunity somewhere.

[Pliddy]

While I like Laviolette, and I was sure he would be hired again, I don't see the upgrade over Trotz. If I was a Preds fan ! I would like to be able to see an obvious upgrade

[devo22]

nah he's not an upgrade, but his hockey is a lot different and many Preds have wanted a more exciting brand of hockey for a while. The Preds/Trotz marriage was lasting so long that it was time for a change.

Many fans were also unhappy with the way Trotz handled Forsberg - for the most part he paired him with 4th liners like Clune and then demoted him to the AHL because of his lack of production lol ... I imagine Forsberg will really thrive under Laviolette

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Pliddy

While I like Laviolette, and I was sure he would be hired again, I don't see the upgrade over Trotz. If I was a Preds fan ! I would like to be able to see an obvious upgrade

Trotz had been there for 17 years. He's the most desired coaching commodity out there because he's an upgrade over pretty much everyone.

Laviolette's won a cup in the modern era, and he's been to another final. He's a good hire.

The only true 'upgrades' would be guys like Quenville, Sutter, Babcock and their ilk.

[sureLoss]

Jimmy Murphy @MurphysLaw74
Hearing Laviolette's deal with Predators is for five years at $2.5 million per season.

[Erick Estrada]

He's a good coach as he's won a cup and he wins more games than he loses. His teams tend to play a looser style which may be a welcome thing for Predators fans although they don't have near the offensive talent to pull it off. Will be interesting to see how the Predators fare next season.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Jimmy Murphy @MurphysLaw74
Hearing Laviolette's deal with Predators is for five years at $2.5 million per season.

Doesnt that make him the highest paid coach in the league?

[Huntingwhale]

Even though they might not have the personal to be succesful with this style of play, I think the fans will be extremely happy to see some uptempo hockey finally. Should be good for Seth Jones too. I wonder if Laviolette will loosen the reigns on him a bit and we'll get to see that smooth skating defender who was so highly touted last year.

[nik-]

I would scoff at the 5 year deal, but Nashville doesn't seem to be the type of organization that fires coaches over results, so I guess that's fine for them.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by nik-

I would scoff at the 5 year deal, but Nashville doesn't seem to be the type of organization that fires coaches over results, so I guess that's fine for them.

The sign of a good GM is getting the hiring right the first time. Obviously even the best hire coaches that don't work out but when you are going through numerous head coaches the problems are more the guy upstairs than the coach.

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Locke

Doesnt that make him the highest paid coach in the league?

Supply and demand. I expect Trotz to eclipse that number by a fair bit.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Jimmy Murphy @MurphysLaw74
Hearing Laviolette's deal with Predators is for five years at $2.5 million per season.

Is this the trend for coaches contracts now? 5 year deals? I don't remember hearing about coaches getting 5 year deals until last year with Vigneault and Torts.

[Itse]

Yeah, the salaries and terms for coaches seem to be going up. Which makes sense really, in a cap world. Getting the right coach is more important than ever.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Fire

Is this the trend for coaches contracts now? 5 year deals? I don't remember hearing about coaches getting 5 year deals until last year with Vigneault and Torts.

Agents for coaches are no different than agents for players. Once the first few players got the big 7+ year deals agents started using those examples in negotiation and now they are the norm for star players. It's probably going to make it more costly to fire coaches in the future but given the fact that these guys get fired so often they probably deserve some financial compensation for working for impatient owners.