Peter Laviolette

After playing college hockey at Westfield State College, Peter spent 10 years playing minor league hockey, mostly with teams in the IHL and AHL. He was called up to the New York Rangers squad during the 1998-99 season, but only played 12 games and failed to record a point.  He also was a member of the United States National Team and played in the Olympics twice (1988 and 1994).

Following his playing career, Peter began his coaching career as head coach of the ECHL Wheeling Nailers in 1997. After an impressive season, he became the head coach of the AHL Providence Bruins, wherein his first season his team won the AHL Championship and he was named AHL Coach of the Year. His impressive stint in the AHL created a lot of buzz in the NHL, and he signed on as assistant coach with the Boston Bruins before becoming the head coach of the New York Islanders in 2001. There, he led the team to the playoffs for 2 straight seasons, ending a 7-year drought for the Islanders.

Laviolette became the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2003-04 season, and in just his second season, he led the team to an impressive 52-22-8 record and a Stanley Cup Championship, which to this day is his best season ever. He would go on to coach the Hurricanes for 3 more seasons, before being fired 25 games into the 2008-09 season. Since then, he has coached the Philadelphia Flyers (2009-2014), the Nashville Predators (2014-2020), and the Washington Capitals (2020-Present), leading his teams to the playoffs in 8 seasons, including 2 more trips to the Stanley Cup Finals. He was also named head coach of the United States Men’s National Team in the beginning of 2020.

Peter Laviolette is now an expert in motivation, after leading numerous teams to the Stanley Cup Finals and learning exactly how to motivate his players enough to be successful. Through his humorous but incredibly intellectual speeches, he is able to educate an audience on his insights into the idea of motivation and how to motivate yourself when nothing else seems to be working.