Laviolette returns to coaching

This slipped through the cracks last week, but it should be noted that Peter Laviolette is making his return to coaching the same way he did the last time he was fired from an NHL job.

USA Hockey announced Thursday that Laviolette would coach a team of Europe-based pros in the Deutschland Cup, a relatively minor international tournament but one with great significance for Laviolette.

In the fall of 2003, out of coaching since he had been fired by the Islanders over the summer, Laviolette dazzled USA Hockey with his work at the Deutschland Cup, leading the United States to the gold medal and putting him on the short list for jobs with the senior national team. He would go on to serve as a two-time World Championship coach and, most notably, as the coach of the 2006 U.S. Olympic team.

His work in Germany that fall also served as positive reinforcement for Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford as he considered firing Paul Maurice and replacing him with Laviolette. The rest is history.

The full USA Hockey release:

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Peter Laviolette, who served as the head coach of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Men's Ice Hockey Team, has been named the head coach of the 2009 U.S. Men's Select Team that will compete at the Deutschland Cup Nov. 6-8 in Munich, Germany.

In addition to leading Team USA at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, Laviolette served as the head coach of two (2004, 2005) U.S. Men's National Teams that competed at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's Championship, winning a bronze medal in 2004. He also guided the U.S. Men's Select Team to a first-place finish at the 2003 Deutschland Cup in Hannover, Germany, and was an assistant coach for Team USA at the 2004 World Cup of Hockey.

In the National Hockey League, Laviolette's 244 career regular-season victories sit second on the all-time wins list by an American-born head coach. He spent parts of five seasons (2003-08) as the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, and in 2005-06, led the team to the Southeast Division title and the franchise's first-ever Stanley Cup. He became the fourth American-born head coach to win the Stanley Cup and was runner-up for the Jack Adams Award, given to the league's top coach, following the season.

Prior to arriving in Carolina, Laviolette served as the head coach of the New York Islanders for two seasons (2001-03) and led the club to the playoffs both years. The 2001-02 campaign marked the first time the Islanders made the postseason since 1994.