As you move up these kinds of lists, the names get bigger and more legendary, with Peter Laviolette approaching local NHL icons for all-time wins as a coach.
With Thursday's victory over the Rangers and Blackhawks, Laviolette, who began his NHL coaching career with the Islanders in 2001, is four wins away from four-time Stanley Cup champion Al Arbor's 782 regular-season wins. , approaching seventh place on the all-time list.
“It means a lot to me because Al and I became friends late in life. He lived on Longboat Key,” Laviolette said Friday of Arbor, who died in 2015. [in Florida]where I lived.
“Sometimes during the winter my mom and dad would go out to dinner with Al and his wife. [Claire].And there are times like that [my wife] Kristen and I went out over the summer, went out to lunch with Al and his wife, and went to see them. ”
“I have tremendous respect for Al as a coach and as a person,” added Laviolette, who led the Islanders to two playoff appearances before being fired in 2003. She was described as “an incredibly lovely woman”.
“His name means a lot to me knowing that he had an incredible career as a coach,” he said, playing in 1,467 games with six teams and compiling a total of 778 wins, 513 losses, and 25 minutes, 151 seconds. said Laviolette, who made the grade. “But I'd rather think about Al and the good things he brought to the game. He was a great coach and a really special person.
“I didn't know much about him when I first started coaching the Islanders, but eventually I got to know him personally. … I really cherish those memories.”
Igor Shesterkin was named to the All-Star team despite starting 24 games and posting the lowest goals-against average (2.75) and save percentage (.908) of his sports career.
The 2022 Vezina Trophy winners enter Friday's league game tied for fifth in the NHL with 16 wins.
“He's continued to win games for us. There's probably going to be games where we're going to have the numbers you're talking about, but I have a responsibility as a coach and as a team to do better in front of him. “There is,” Laviolette said. “I don't want to make it seem like this is a big issue all year long because we've been doing really well, but there were some games where I didn't feel like we did the right things up front,” he said. “
