Laviolette believes Rangers have skill, must compete harder to win Cup

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- Peter Laviolette's vision for the New York Rangers is simple.

Turning it into reality isn't.

Laviolette, hired last week as the 37th coach in Rangers history, was introduced in a press conference at the team's suburban practice facility Tuesday. The 58-year-old who's been a coach in the NHL since 2001 laid out what he wants the Rangers to look like and play like.

"My message to everybody is let's go to work," Laviolette said. "I think that we have really good pieces in place, but to me it's about that work ethic that drives teams."

However, he knows it's not going to be an overnight process to get there.

"I grew up in Massachusetts and my mom and dad are blue-collar people, they work really hard, and when you're around that it becomes generational if you're observant of it every day for what it takes to be a hard-working person," Laviolette said. "I think that there is a lot of skill and a lot of talent on this team from the goaltender to the back end to the forwards. We definitely need to embrace that because you find that the teams that go deep into the playoffs and win championships, they're loaded with skill. That has to be a part of it.

"What I'm about to say is not trying to take away from that in any manner, but when you watch the playoff games right now, the final four and the final two, it's just a reminder that the compete inside the game is what makes teams great. It drives them to success. I don't think that's something you can just ask for. I think you have to practice that on a daily basis. It has to become habit. It has to become your identity, part of the DNA of who you are. It has to start in training camp and it has to be held to a level of accountability. When you have that and you have the skill that's how teams push on and they compete for Stanley Cups, win Stanley Cups and become really good hockey teams."

The Rangers have skill. That much is obvious with Adam Fox, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Vincent Trocheck, Filip Chytil, Video: Arthur Staple Talks Peter Laviolette press conference and Kaapo Kakko.

They're all offensive-minded players who along with goalie Igor Shesterkin helped drive the Rangers to 99 wins, 217 points and 523 goals (3.19 per game) in the past two seasons under former coach Gerard Gallant.

But what held the Rangers back from going the extra mile to become Stanley Cup champions was their inability to consistently mesh their skill with the other essential parts of the game that Laviolette spoke about.

They reached the Eastern Conference Final in 2022 before running out of gas and losing in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

They were up 2-0 on the New Jersey Devils in the first round this season but couldn't grind out two more wins. They lost in seven games and had little pushback once their skill was canceled out by New Jersey's. It cost Gallant his job.

"Just look at past champions," Laviolette said. "Tampa Bay, back to back. They're loaded with talent, but they didn't win just because of that talent. When you work on the trait and the habits of the game you can win."

The players need to be ready to push, and they're going to have to buy in.

That means be ready to play an aggressive, attacking, pressuring style of hockey. Be ready to battle and grind.

Those are staples of Laviolette's teams in his previous NHL stops, from the New York Islanders (2001-03) to the Carolina Hurricanes (2003-09), Philadelphia Flyers (2009-14), Nashville Predators (2014-20) and most recently the Washington Capitals (2020-23).

You can't argue with his success.

Laviolette is eighth in NHL regular-season wins (752) and 11th in games coached (1,430) with a .526 career winning percentage. He is also 16th in Stanley Cup Playoff wins (78) and 12th in postseason games coached (154).

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He won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006 and took the Flyers (2010) and Predators (2017) to the Stanley Cup Final.

"Yes, this team (the Rangers) can play that way," Laviolette said. "That's the objective going into training camp, to push that."

New York general manager Chris Drury, sitting to Laviolette's left during the press conference, probably heard those same words in his multiple interviews with the veteran coach.

Drury said he wanted a detailed, thorough process before determining who would be the Rangers' next coach. He and Laviolette both said it should be that way because it's a big job and the Rangers have huge expectations.

"As I went through the process it just became clear to me that all his attributes as a coach and a person made sense for our team," Drury said.

"It feels like we're in lockstep already on what we want to accomplish here and how we want to accomplish it."

The players must be next to fall in line.

"There has to be a clearcut plan on what it is that we're doing," Laviolette said. "It's my job to communicate that. It's my job to hold players accountable to that. Sure, there is always a little bit of adjustment and adaptation, but when you can get a team on the same page that you feel, or that I feel can be successful, I found success follows."