from the CP at TSN,
Peter Laviolette is not one to waste precious time reflecting on how he feels about taking his third different NHL team to the conference finals.
The coach is too busy trying to help the Nashville Predators bring the Stanley Cup championship to Music City.
"We're excited to get going and start," he said. "Guys have worked hard to get to this point and just want to keep working hard. Like I said, I think the most important thing is just keep our head down and keep doing the work."
It's tough to argue with Laviolette's approach considering his success.
Now 52, Laviolette is just the third coach since the NHL split its playoffs between conferences in 1994 to take three different teams this far, joining Ken Hitchcock (Dallas, Philadelphia and St. Louis) and Darryl Sutter (Chicago, Calgary and Los Angeles). If the Predators get past Anaheim in the Western Conference finals , which start Friday night, he would be the first in that span to take three different teams to the Stanley Cup Final.
Laviolette won the 2006 Stanley Cup with Carolina and led Philadelphia to the finals in 2010. Earlier this season, Laviolette became just the second U.S.-born coach to win 500 NHL games and the 28th overall to coach 1,000 games. His playoff record is 60-52, including 17-13 in three seasons in Nashville.
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