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NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 18, 2009Peter LavioletteDAVID KEON: Good afternoon, everyone. I'm David Keon of the National Hockey League's public relations department and I'd like to welcome you to our call. With us we have Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette. Thanks to Peter for taking the time today to join us and answer your questions, and thanks to Zack Hill of the Flyers public relations department for arranging the call. Two weeks from today, Peter will lead his team into historic Fenway Park, where the Flyers will meet the Boston Bruins in the 2010 NHL Bridgestone Winter Classic. A native of Massachusetts, Peter has been assistant coach of the Bruins, head coach of the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League, he coached the Islanders for two seasons, and lead the Carolina Hurricanes to the 2006 Stanley Cup championship. He was named to his current position as the 17th head coach of the Flyers on December 4th and is looking forward to playing at Fenway Park. We thank Peter for joining us to answer your questions. We'll open it up now. Q. When you got hired, I asked you if you thought about the Winter Classic. You said it hadn't crossed your mind once at all. Now you guys are going through a stretch, but are you looking at it at all as a motivating factor to be playing well going into that game, as a motivating factor for your team and for you personally to get there and be a part of the pomp and circumstance for it, being a Boston guy? PETER LAVIOLETTE: Well, we certainly would like to be playing well if there was a game or not a game. We need to play a little bit better than we are right now, put some more wins in the column. I do think when you are playing good hockey, you know, it's kind of like the playoffs, something's coming up, you want to be playing well so when you hit that event, you're playing at the top of your game. I've liked some of the things we've done in the last couple games and we need to continue to take steps forward here. I think it's an exciting game for the players to be a part of. You know, it's really I think symbolic of where hockey started for probably almost everybody that's on the ice or behind the bench, is somewhere outside on a pond in the weather. To do it at Fenway Park, I think that's what makes it really special for the players and anybody who's a part of that game. Q. How about for you in particular, being that you're from that area, does it make it extra special for you? Do you have a history with Fenway Park? PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think the game is pretty special no matter what venue it's being played at because, you know, you move into a big facility, you bring in 40,000 people, you know, the attention an event like this gets. But there's no question, you know, had it been somewhere else in the country as opposed to the state that I grew up in, knowing Fenway Park and the history of it, having gone to that venue to watch the Red Sox play as a kid, growing up watching the Boston Bruins play, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Wayne Cashman, John Bucyk. Just following the Bruins as a kid, and then being a part of the Flyers, their organization, the history that they have. My family gets to come to the game. My kids will be there. I think it does make it a little bit more special because I'm a local guy. Q. Have you ever been in the bowels of Fenway Park or the locker rooms? PETER LAVIOLETTE: You know, I haven't. I took a tour the other day. A few days ago, we were in Boston playing a game. We were there a day early. After practice, they took a bus over there. We got to walk around a little bit and got to stand on what will soon be the ice, take a look around, go down into the locker rooms. A lot of history in that building. You know, when you look around, you know exactly where you are. Q. I was wondering the demands on you for family and friends, for tickets for this event, especially given that you're from the area? PETER LAVIOLETTE: Extensive (laughter). You know, it's one of those things that's once in a lifetime. My sisters and their nieces and nephews, my family and kids are coming up, and parents. We're going to stick mostly to family, but I know we'll have a good following from friends that I know and went to college with and played high school with. I know there will be a lot of people at the game watching the game. But, you know, that all kind of gets shuffled to my wife's plate. She's got to deal with being the cruise director. You know, I'm not going to have a whole lot of time to be dealing with that, so... But I know that there are quite a few people, you know, that are planning on coming to that game. And they're very excited about it, as they should be. Q. Would you care to put a number on how many requests your wife has taken from people that are close to you? PETER LAVIOLETTE: From family? Q. Well, the whole gang. PETER LAVIOLETTE: I think our count is 21. Q. Just for family? PETER LAVIOLETTE: Yeah. End of FastScripts |
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