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NY Post
New York Post
20 Jun 2023


NextImg:Peter Laviolette all about ‘aggressive approach’ as he looks to reshape Rangers’ identity

Peter Laviolette’s extensive experience as an NHL head coach was on full display when he fielded his first questions as the new head coach of the Rangers during his introductory press conference Tuesday morning in Tarrytown.

There was one through line, however, that seems to have defined his coaching career at each and every stop he’s made along the way to this new opportunity in New York.

And that is Laviolette’s emphasis on compete-level, work ethic and the will from within to win.

It’s something that was instilled in Laviolette from the beginning. Growing up in Franklin, Mass., his parents, Peter and Helen, were blue-collar people.

They worked hard for everything they had.

When you’re around that all the time, the 58-year-old said, it becomes generational.

For all the skill and talent he will inherit with this Rangers roster, Laviolette made it clear — just like his predecessor Gerard Gallant did on his way out the door — that it won’t mean anything unless the team has the tenacity to make something of it.

Peter Laviolette shakes hands with GM Chris Drury and his is introduced as Rangers coach on Tuesday.
Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

“The compete inside the game is what makes teams great,” he said. “It drives them to success. I don’t think that’s something you can just ask for. I think that you have to practice that on a daily basis. It has to become habit, it has to become your identity, part of the DNA of who you are — and it has to start in training camp.

“It has to be held to a level of accountability. When you have that and you have the skill, that’s how teams push on and they compete for Stanley Cups, win Stanley Cups and become really good hockey teams.”

That is the kind of attitude that a team like the Rangers can feed off.

It’s the sort of outlook that can take the Rangers from contenders to champions.

There’s no denying the framework is there, but the Rangers’ first-round loss to the Devils this past postseason can be linked to a lack of heart, an absence of drive and a shortage of discipline to play with those traits.

From the sound of it, Laviolette will be setting that hard-work standard from Day 1 of training camp. The days of the Rangers’ swift practices appear to be over. Players reportedly wanted to be challenged more at the training facility, and that’s what they’ll get. Laviolette believes in how the grind shapes champions.

Everybody says you practice how you play and you play how you practice.

    The Rangers are going to have to bring it every single day under Laviolette.

    “For me, it’s always been a little more of an aggressive approach,” Laviolette said of his core principles for success. “I think that you have to play good defense and you see that for teams that win Stanley Cups. Defense is always a priority, and you have to be able to play good in your defensive zone and [play] good defense. But for me, it’s about the attack. It’s about pressuring, it’s about puck pursuit, it’s about the battle level, the compete level, the grit.

    “It’s that grind in the game that makes teams great. You can’t just flip a switch on that. That has to be talked about now, it has to be taught in training camp, it has to be worked on through the exhibition games and it has to be pushed through the entire season.

    “So that it’s not something that you’re asking to change or to flip the switch to be able to play playoff hockey. It’s so that you’re ready and you prepared yourself the whole year to play playoff hockey.”

    NHL
    New Rangers coach Peter Laviolette meets with the media on Tuesday.
    Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post

    Playoff hockey is what Laviolette was hired to coach. To him, it’s a year-round job.

    Once it was official, Laviolette began reaching out to his new players, and he even met Adam Fox on Tuesday.

    His hope is to speak to everybody by the end of the month.

    The rest of his coaching staff will begin to take shape as the offseason progresses, though there’s already been reports of former Islanders captain Michael Peca joining him.

    But Laviolette has already started with the precedent he set with his words on Tuesday.

    “There has to be a clear-cut plan of what we’re doing,” he said. “That’s my job to communicate that. It’s my job to hold players accountable to that. Sure, there’s always a little bit of adjustment and adaptation.

    “But when you can get a team on the same page to play a brand of hockey that you feel — or that I feel — can be successful. I’ve found there to be success that follows.”