Peter Laviolette can tie Al Arbour in wins tonight.
With the New York Rangers' next win, Peter Laviolette will tie New York Islanders legendary coach Al Arbour for the seventh most wins in NHL history by a head coach with 782.
The Ranger's 37th coach in club history and former Islanders bench boss (2001-2003) was hired on Jun. 13, 2023, and is the fourth head coach in NHL history to lead three teams to the Stanley Cup Finals.
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"Al and I became friends later in his life," Laviolette said.
"There were times when my mom and dad would come down and go out to dinner with Al and his wife, and there were times when Chris and I were down in the summer, and we went to go get lunch."
Although a short tenure, his first NHL head coaching position was for the club that Arbour built.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a coach and as a person," Laviolette said.
"His wife is a lovely lady. We got to spend time with them, so that means a lot to me knowing he's had an unbelievable career as a coach."
The 60-year-old bench boss began coaching the Wheeling Nailers (ECHL) in 1997 and jumped up to the Providence Bruins (AHL) until 2000.
The Franklin, Massachusetts native earned the Boston Bruins Assistant job from 2000-2001 and was hired by the New York Islanders for a brief stint from 2001-2003.
Laviolette was with the Carolina Hurricanes from 2003-2009, where he coached the team to a championship in 2006.
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From 2009-2014, he coached the Philadelphia Flyers, leading the club to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final. He also was an assistant coach for the 2014 USA Olympic team.
The Nashville Predators enjoyed the club's first true years of success under his guise from 2014-2020, earning a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017 and the Presidents' Trophy in 2018.
Circumstances out of a coach's control led to a short three years with the Washington Capitals.