Laviolette Set to Coach 1,000th NHL Game

When Peter Laviolette steps behind the bench to coach his Nashville Predators on Thursday night, he'll be doing something only 27 before him have ever accomplished.
Laviolette, who won his 500th game earlier this season, is slated to coach his 1,000th NHL game in Nashville's next outing, a feat reserved for a select few and some of the best who have ever called out instruction in League history.
The native of Franklin, Massachusetts, will become only the second U.S.-born coach to hit the milestone, joining John Tortorella of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Among the Top 30 coaches in games coached, Laviolette ranks seventh in point percentage (.578) and is one of 17 to have captured a Stanley Cup title, doing do in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes. Laviolette also coached the Philadelphia Flyers to the 2010 Stanley Cup Final.

After completing a playing career that saw him appear in 12 games during the 1988-89 season with the New York Rangers, as well as representing the United States in the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Winter Games, Laviolette traded in his stick for a whistle.
The defenseman turned coach began his career as the head coach of the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL during the 1997-98 season before serving two seasons as the head coach of the Providence Bruins of the AHL, including a Calder Cup Championship in 1999. In 2001, Laviolette was hired for his first NHL head coaching gig as he stepped behind the bench of the New York Islanders.
Laviolette spent two seasons with the Islanders, parts of five seasons with Carolina and parts of five more seasons in Philadelphia before accepting the head coach position with Nashville on May 6, 2014.
During his first season with the Predators, Laviolette was a head coach at the 2015 All-Star Game, a finalist for the Jack Adams Award and led the team to their third-best record in franchise history. In his second campaign, Laviolette guided the Predators to their first-ever Game Seven victory in the 2016 Western Conference First Round, and advanced the team further than ever before, playing in another Game Seven in the Second Round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Prior to the 2016-17 season, Laviolette signed a two-year extension with the Preds, ensuring he would remain behind the bench in Music City as the franchise continues to pursue its ultimate goal of a Stanley Cup championship.
So congratulations, Coach, on 1,000 games behind the bench. Now, take a look back at some of the top moments of Laviolette's career.