Predators Fire Peter Laviolette
On Monday evening the Nashville Predators announced head coach Peter Laviolette and associate coach Kevin McCarthy have been relieved of their duties.
The Predators are 19-15-7 (45 points), one point ahead of the Blackhawks though Nashville has two games in-hand.
Nashville did not immediately name an interim head coach. The Preds host the Boston Bruins Tuesday.
Not a fan of him.
Still remember that Steve Ott run in he had as a flyers coach and tried to cut in front of Stars players. Thinks hes king sh**.
IMO, I like him. Type of coach this team needs, especially with younger players.
Fired after just receiving the assurance from the G.M. that he was not firing him.Always be suspicious of that dreaded vote of confidence.Figured something was going to happen after last nights display against the last place Ducks.At 1 point of the game they were being outshot 32 to 10.Lots of under performing forwards on that roster.Ardvson-9 Goals =4.2 Million,Turris-9 Goals=6 Million,Duchene-9 Goals-8 Million ,Johansen-9 Goals-8 Million. Ouch! Guess they all decided to not make each other look bad.
Never liked him, except when he mishandled the goalies for Philly (kept switching goalies)when the Hawks won the cup. He did us a favor.
Laviolette won it all with CAR and took PHI and NSH to the finals – he’s a successful coach
Interesting that Q, Babs and now Laviolette all old school successful coaches have been fired in last 14 months or so – it seems that there’s a change in the wind
It will not happen cuz the guy will need sometime away from the game first, but….
If he were to get offered and accept the Hawks job tomorrow, the Hawks make the playoffs.
The guy is a ‘take no bullcrap’, hard butt, old school winner, similar in some instances to Q.
A warm and fuzzy millennial is behind the bench now. (You guys have seen his apologetic press conferences.)
How is that working out for the Chicago Blackhawk organization do far?
I’m not a huge fan of this guy’s personality or the disposed San Jose coach, but I felt similarly re Q when the Hawks hired him.
DeBoer & Laviolette have four finals appearances and a Cup bw them, as well as conference finals multiple aggregately. If either one of these two was the Hawks coach for this season so far, they would have 6-8 points more — at least.
So what’s better for a team like the Hawks to make the playoffs now w three Hall of Fame players (especially Kane who has been a durable one man wrecking crew since the Cups ended), enough offensive talent, an improved penalty kill, and two solid goalies — the green coach Bowman plucked out of Europe who the players at best generally don’t respect, or one of these two guys?
There is half the season left. The fifth season in a row (especially the last three if you include this year) wasting a once in 30-40 year player like Kane, who makes everyone around him better (look who he’s playing w now, Sikura & Carpenter)
Gross mismanagement by Bowman.
Pittsburgh has injury after injury, salary cap issues as well, a hodge podge defense, and competent goaltending. Their roster hasn’t been (absent last year when Bowman sabotaged Q at the beginning of the season) much better than the Hawks and they won two more Cups and the playoffs are a given. What if Mike Sullivan were the Hawks’ coach?
The common denominator is you need an experienced, well respected coach to win the Cup. Berube has been around forever coaching, highly respected as well. The Hawks have an amateur coach. As Ian accurately laid out the other day – all fact based — the Hawks are in the position they are in bc the coach sucks and Bowman hand picked the coach.
Good evening.
Will defer to the very knowledgeable posters who understand which available coaches would be a good fit. First things first. We need a GM upgrade who will select the right coach, scouts, etc.
Despite playing much better since November, we are not a serious contender. We need someone with a record of making good trades and knows how to draft in Rounds 2-7
I have said this a few times already. If you want a coach who can coach young players and take no b.s., bring in Dale Hunter and his brother Marc to be GM. Why do you think Toronto has a bunch of young talent with the Leafs and Marlies. They were not all high first round picks
Amen Iceman.You get a battle tested playoff Coach in here, a big defensive center, and a solid D Man at the deadline.They should have done it as soon as Seabrook,Shaw,Dehaan went down long term.Dont waste another prime year of 88s career.Hopefully 19 can bring his game up to Cup Level and you get a hot Lehner going.Anything can happen in a series.On the negative side of things,it may be too late on the Coach and if that daunting February schedule goes bad you are really fighting an uphill battle.If this organization is true to their word,they are going shopping at the deadline.
I see that some are advocating for the Hawks to bring in Laviolette. However if Colliton gets the blame for the Hawks underperforming then certainly Laviolette gets the blame for the floundering of a team with a much deeper roster. Laviolette was given more talent than Trotz ever had to work with in Nashville. Personally I prefer the old school coaches over the milquetoast, millennial style coach. I just am not a fan of Laviolette.
Don’t gotta be a fan of this coach.
Just gotta want him to win if he is the coach….which he has done.
And who doesn’t want that?
This guy will surface in the Fall if 2020 and probably take another team to the SCF.
Bobby9-
I think the Hunters love (and are good at) what they do now-they fill their building, players really want to go there, say instead of the NCAA, and they have autonomy and make good money. Can’t see Dale going back to the NHL and the overpaid superstars, the 17/18/19 year old players don’t treat him like OV did.
–now Mark maybe, he might want the challenge of being the guy in the NHL.
Noonan. You may be right on the Hunters , but if you don’t ask you will never know.
The next coach is likely going to be coach for a while. Do I want him?
The reason he was fired was how bad the team was performing. So what makes anyone think that his coaching of the Hawks will be better than how he coached in Nashville?
Yes he’d be better than JC, but almost anyone would be.
I say wait until the off season, see whose out there besides him.
Wouldn’t it be sweet tho to hire Laviolette before Thursdays game….
So you want him as the coach of the Hawks for the next 3 + plus years. After firing Q and JC. The next coach likely gets probably 3 ish years regardless of their success or failure turn the Hawks around.
Besides JC being horrible
What about his parts of coaching do you think will make him a good fit for Hawks going forward?
Have you seen him coach in other places if so what has impressed you
What do you see in him, that he will do for the Hawks that will make him a better coach than he was in Nashville?
Why do you think the Hawks should choose him right after he got fired as opposed to waiting for the summer when the Hawks could look at a variety of candiates?
Laviolette will get you to the SCF.
He has done it 3 times already w 3 different teams. Won it once.
What kind of hockey fan would not want that?
But he will not come back to the game until he clears his head.
So the Hawks can inquire about him, but odds are slim he bites this year.
Jim
That’s not an answer. Is he a good coach yes, what he will do different with the Hawks, than what he was not doing with Nashville. B/c they fired him for a reason.
Yes he has brought multiple teams to the play offs over the last 2 decades. But I don’t think just that is a good enough reason to fire JC and hire him. I think the Hawks should spend some time this off season looking at other candiates besides just him. If he turns out to be candiate then hire him.
What does he do, that you think is better than anyone else they could possibly look at this summer? If there are tangible things that set him apart from other possible candiates, I am willing to listen.
The Puckheads on TV and radio seem to think all the firing of coaches is now done till season’s end.
The better question for me is how long does Bowman have? Please God, if they don’t make the playoffs, get someone with fresh eyes, new ideas. (and before this year’s draft!)
BFan02,
How much more of an answer do you want?
The guy builds winners. Look at his resume.
But I will make a bet with you.
Wherever Laviolette ends up, I will bet you he gets to the SCF long before Colliton does.
His tangibles you ask?
He is wearing a Cup ring and has there SCF appearances in his coffer. One of those gave our Hawks all they could handle.
Pretty damn good tangibles if you ask me.
Molding winners everywhere he went.
CAR. PHI. NSH.
Q came to town with a Cup ring as an asst. Coach (COL) and a successful head coaching career (STL).
Despite his success, he got fired too for a reason.
So I wonder if Dale Talking was asking questions about his tangibles like you are when hiring him?
Q’s tangibles are all over his fingers, and hanging in the rafters of the UC.
Smart hockey guys like Tallon know that.
You want to win? You hire guys who build winners.
Like Laviolette and Q.
As it sits right now, Laviolette and Babcock are the most successful unemployed coaches out there now.
If the Hawks stick with Bowman and by default, Colliton, you will not see a SCF appearance until they leave.
But hell, I lived with that for decades in the rafters of the Old Barn.
If I can live thru Orval Tessier, Alpo Suhonen, Lorne Milliken and Mike Smith,
I can stomach Colliton and Bowman.
for example the style of hockey his teams play that makes him a better coach. Or how he devleops relastion with players.
But all you want to talk about is his resume. Not what he actually does as coach to make the team better.
Sorry I wasted both of our times.
Babcock is the most overrated. His success comes from working with elite rosters.
Laviolette style is winning hockey.
End of story.
What is so hard to understand?
Some ting gotta give. This team is very inconsistent and needs new leadership in org.