Capitals coach Peter Laviolette still treasures his time with the Wheeling Nailers

There was a familiar name in Wheeling, W.Va. on Friday.

Peter Laviolette.

Then again, Peter Laviolette III has been in the Wheeling Nailers’ lineup for 30 games this season.

A first-year professional, Laviolette III, who was born in Wheeling, joined the Pittsburgh Penguins’ ECHL affiliate as a free agent out of Plymouth (N.H.) State this past offseason.

His father, Peter Laviolette, Jr., cut his teeth in a professional sense in Wheeling as well roughly a quarter century ago.

He also was on hand for the Nailers’ 2-1 home loss to the Kalamzoo Wings on Friday at the venerable WesBanco Arena situated on the eastern shore of the Ohio River.

The elder Laviolette, 58, was inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame prior to the game, having served as the Nailers’ head coach for a single season in 1997-98.

Congratulations to tonight's Wheeling #Nailers Hall of Fame Inductees! Well deserved! ???? pic.twitter.com/n9NKu1BOhH

— Wheeling Nailers (@WheelingNailers) March 24, 2023

Well before he became a Stanley Cup champion as well as one of the winningest coaches in NHL history, Laviolette, currently the Capitals’ head coach, got his first full-time coaching gig in 1997 at the age of 33 with the then-still somewhat new Wheeling Nailers who were a year removed from their previous incarnation, the Thunderbirds.

“I was player-assistant coach (with the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins),” Laviolette said following his current team’s morning skate at PPG Paints Arena. “The head coaching job became available. I didn’t get interviewed for that. After being player-assistant coach, I knew I wanted to be a head coach. I talked to my wife (Kristen) and we thought that the opportunity might come dropping down a level. So, we put a resume out to a couple of places and Wheeling was the first one that called. Went down there with new ownership and no (NHL or AHL) affiliates. Interviewed and ended up getting hired. That’s how I got there in Wheeling to start my career.”

In his sole season in Wheeling, Laviolette, who also was the team’s director of hockey operations, steered the Nailers to a 37-24-9 record and 83 points as well as an appearance in the Northern Conference semifinal (i.e. third round) series which remains one of the deepest postseason runs in franchise history.

“You learn everything,” Laviolette said. “It’s not like you have a blueprint for systems and you know exactly what you want to do. It’s not like you know how to handle every situation that pops up. You’re the (director of hockey operations) as well which means you make the trades, you cut people, you hire people. There’s a lot of responsibility that goes with that. I was learning as I went. But when the year is over, you look back and you say that was a really meaningful year with all you’re able to learn and all you’re able to do to try to become a better coach. It was a great place for a young coach to start.”

That success led to Laviolette being hired by the Providence Bruins in the subsequent offseason and winning the AHL’s Calder Cup in 1999.

After being promoted as an assistant on the Boston Bruins’ staff in 2000, Laviolette became head coach of the New York Islanders in 2001. After two seasons on Long Island, he ventured south as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, leading that franchise to its lone Stanley Cup title in 2006.

He has also coached the Philadelphia Flyer and Nashville Predators, directing those clubs to Stanley Cup Final appearances in 2010 and 2017, respectively.

Having served as the Capitals’ coach for the past three seasons, Laviolette is eighth in NHL history in career coaching wins with a 751-497-173 record (including 25 ties).

Yet, despite all that success in some of the NHL’s most prominent marks in major cities, he still holds his time in a tiny city that can be claimed by both Appalachia and the Rust Belt dear to his heart.

With the Capitals in Pittsburgh for a game against the Penguins on Saturday, Laviolette was able to make the hour-or-so trek to Wheeling for the honor he received on Friday.

“I went there with my wife and my son was born in Wheeling, West Virginia,” Laviolette said, making sure to include the state’s name. “I think it was the people that really drew me in. It was the ownership group. It was the fan base. It was the fact that I was new and the whole team was new. And we had to build something together. By the end, we were really strong with our game and really strong with a chance to be a champion there. We ended up losing in the semifinals. But I was really proud of those guys and where we came from, where we all came from, and the year that we had.

“It just holds a special place in my heart. Beautiful. Wheeling, it’s kind of got that steel town look to it. But outside of it has some pretty beautiful places as well. Rolling mountains and golf courses. We were a young married couple and our son was born there and it just holds a special place in our heart.”

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