Laviolette downplays Final berth with 3rd different team: 'I got fired a lot'

Peter Laviolette isn't resting on his laurels.

The Nashville Predators head coach kept things in perspective after becoming the fourth bench boss in NHL history to take three different teams to the Stanley Cup Final.

"Probably means that I got fired a lot," he told reporters with a laugh postgame Monday night. "I'm fortunate to be here working and fortunate (general manager) David Poile gave me a job. And when you do that, you're not thinking about things like that, you're just thinking about coming to work."

The Predators advanced to their first Cup Final with a 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final, sending Laviolette back to the championship round for the first time since 2010, when his Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Chicago Blackhawks.

He won it all as head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006, and he now joins Scotty Bowman, Dick Irvin, and Mike Keenan as the only bench bosses to reach the final round with three different organizations.

"I've got such a great group of guys in the (dressing) room that I get to work with every day and the coaches get to work with every day," Laviolette added Monday night. "And that's what we've pretty much done this year, is just all of us tried to go to work and tried to get better. And we find ourselves in the position we're going to play for the Cup."