Laviolette preparing for challenges ahead
Coach beginning Caps tenure at unusual time
When Peter Laviolette walks into Buffalo’s KeyBank Center on Thursday night, it will be his first time behind the bench during the coronavirus pandemic.
There won’t be any fans in the stands, no energy that builds from the moment the doors open. It will be a brand-new experience for Laviolette, but it won’t be his only first.
Thursday also is the start of a new chapter for the Washington Capitals, with Laviolette coaching his first game for the team. The 56-game, pandemic-shortened schedule is just one of many changes to adapt to, and the longtime NHL coach is right in the middle of planning for a season filled with uncertainty.
“I guess we’re prepared for anything,” he said Tuesday during an interview with The Washington Post. “Anything could happen.”
Even the way Laviolette interacts with players in the team’s practice facility has changed.
Instead of being able to talk to all 23 of them in one room when going over video, the team has to head to three separate areas — the video room, coaches’ office and dressing room — to go over video streamed to all three rooms. It’s not an ideal situation for a team learning a new coach’s system.
“I think it loses a bit of its pop
… when you try to go over things,” Laviolette said. “And then I’m thinking of things as I’m running this meeting — I’m using this laser, and I’m wondering if they can see the laser on the camera that is being projected onto the TV and I’m talking about a different board.”
Those adjustments eventually became routine, and Laviolette knows he isn’t alone in this struggle, but it’s amplified with his recent arrival and a training camp that was shortened to 10 days. Add a schedule that has each team in the newly formed East Division playing one another eight times, and you can expect tempers to flare early and often.
“It’s going to be intense, and I think it’s going to be hard for everybody,” Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan said. “Preparation will probably be a little more like a playoff series because you prep for the game, then you make some adjustments and then you [often] will get to prep again [to face] the same team, so you are doing a lot of the same stuff. It is going to be interesting how everyone handles it.”
The Capitals open the season with backto-back road games against the Sabres, then travel to Pittsburgh for two games against the rival Penguins before their home opener Jan. 22 — against Buffalo again.
Local restrictions on public gatherings will prevent Washington from allowing fans into Capital One Arena, and MacLellan does not expect that to change anytime in the near future.