The names get bigger and more legendary as you move up these kinds of lists, and Peter Laviolette is closing in on a local NHL icon in all-time coaching victories.
Laviolette, who began his NHL coaching career with the Islanders in 2001, moved within four regular-season wins of four-time Stanley Cup winner Al Arbour’s career total of 782 for seventh all-time with Thursday’s Rangers victory over the Blackhawks.
“It means a lot to me because Al and I became friends later in his life,” Laviolette said Friday about Arbour, who died in 2015. “He lived on Longboat Key [in Florida], where I lived.
“There were times where my mom and dad going down for a winter would go out to dinner with Al and his wife [Claire]. And there’s times when [my wife] Kristen and I would go down in the summer, and we would go out to lunch with Al and his wife or we would go and see them.”
Laviolette, who coached the Islanders to two playoff berths in as many seasons before he was fired in 2003, added that he has “just a tremendous amount of respect for Al as a coach and as a person,” and for his wife, who he described as “just an incredibly lovely lady.”
“That name means a lot to me knowing that he had just an unbelievable career as a coach,” said Laviolette, who has posted a career mark of 778-513-25-151 in 1,467 games with six teams. “But I’d rather just think about Al and the good things that he brought to the game. He was a tremendous coach and just a really special man.
“To get to know him personally at the end, where I didn’t know him so much when I first started coaching the Islanders. … I really treasure those memories.”
Igor Shesterkin was named to the All-Star team despite sporting career lows in goals-against average (2.75) and save percentage (.908) through 24 starts.
The 2022 Vezina Trophy winner entered Friday’s league action tied for fifth in the NHL with 16 wins.
“He’s been winning games for us. Some of the games that probably get the numbers that you’re talking about, I take responsibility as a coach and as a team to do better things in front of him,” Laviolette said. “We’ve been really good, so I don’t want to make it sound like this is a major problem the entire year, but there’s been a few games where I don’t think that we’ve done the right things in front of him.”