GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Chris Drury knew he had the New York Rangers' next coach sitting in his office when he met with Peter Laviolette last summer.
"I was meticulous, I took my time, I did a lot of homework and it just so happened to be scheduling wise, Peter was the first person I interviewed," said Drury, the Rangers general manager, "and no one came close to knocking him out of the box."
Drury said on June 23, when the Rangers introduced Laviolette as their new coach in a press conference eight days after hiring him, they were "in lockstep already on what we want to accomplish and how we want to accomplish it."
At the time, Drury said: "The key word is partnership. You have to be on the same page in a lot of different ways."
On Tuesday, in their pre-series press conference, one day before New York lost to the Florida Panthers 3-0 in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final at Madison Square Garden, Laviolette and Drury were again talking about being on the same page.
Their symbiotic relationship this season has played a key role in keeping the Rangers on the path they're on, from Presidents' Trophy winners to the conference final, and maybe beyond.
The Panthers lead the best-of-7 series 1-0. Game 2 is at Madison Square Garden on Friday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
"There is nothing that I do that Chris doesn't know," Laviolette said, "and he's really open with me as well. We see each other pretty much every day. We talk pretty much every day."
Drury was sold on Laviolette from the jump; the coach came in with a plan, a firm idea of how he wanted New York to play, with the details in place for what they had to do to get there.
Laviolette's thoughts matched Drury's.
" 'Dru' and I had a lot of conversations about a lot of different things," Laviolette said, "from the way we were going to play the game to culture to systems, the locker room, the players. There was a lot of conversations.
"We've had a great working relationship the entire time. That's the way it started during the interview process and that's the way it is exactly to this day."
Each knew it was going to take hard work in practice. Each knew it was going to take buy-in from the players. Each knew that buy-in was going to have to come right away.
Laviolette put the plan in motion on Day One of training camp.
Drury sat back and watched, and saw immediate results.
"You saw right from the first minute of training camp the details we were working on and the pace that training camp was played," Drury said. "I think guys understood right from there things around here were elevated and 'We better be ready to go.' "
Nothing has changed.
Laviolette and his coaching staff, including assistants Michael Peca, Phil Housley and Dan Muse, come to practice every day with a plan, Drury said. They execute it.
The Rangers work in practice. Their battle drills fuel the competition. The players enjoy the competitive atmosphere, the work-for-what-you-get attitude. They thrive in it. They're all in.
"Our practices are fun to watch," Drury said. "There's a lot of joy in the players with actions, emotions, how to compete. I think 'Lavi' and his staff design practices every day with a plan and how hard they play in practice translates into the games.
"If it doesn't happen in practice it's not going to magically happen in games. It's a fun group to watch in practice with the compete and joy they have every single day."
But again, nothing about that surprises Drury, because that's exactly what he and Laviolette talked about in the job interview last summer.
They knew each other previously, with Laviolette coaching Drury at the 2006 Torino Olympics and the 2004 IIHF World Championship in the Czech Republic.
Drury was supposed to be the United States GM and Laviolette the coach of the 2020 World Championship that was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"But I think when you get to work with somebody it becomes a little bit different in a good way," Laviolette said. "You're spending more time. Maybe our time in the past had been quicker through a small tournament or a short stint of time, and now we're together and we see each other every day. Our relationship has been really good. It's been open.
"I'm pretty much an open book. What we do I think he should know. We share thoughts and information. It's been a really good relationship."
The players can tell they're on the same page.
"Usually, it's more noticeable if they're not," center Vincent Trocheck said. "But when everybody is on the same page you don't really tend to notice, it's just things are going really well."
They have been all season for the Rangers. There have been no hiccups or alterations to the plan or the coach-GM relationship.
"It's an open line of communication with both of them," captain Jacob Trouba said. "You can tell when everyone is pulling on the same rope. That's what you need at this time of year, and when everybody is on the same page that's what gives you the best chance to win. Both of them have done a great job this year."
