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The Nashville Predators announced on May 6 that Peter Laviolette has been hired as the NHL club’s new head coach. Laviolette is just the second coach in the franchise’s 15-year history as he takes over from former bench boss Barry Trotz who was given his pink slip at the conclusion of the regular season. The Predators finished in 10th place this year with 88 points on a 38-32-12 record and missed the postseason.

Laviolette is a former player who launched his coaching career back in 1997. He’s worked with several minor league clubs as well as the U.S. Olympic team. He’s currently working with the American team in the 2014 IIHF World Hockey Championships in Belarus and will join up with Nashville when the tournament’s over.

The 49-year-old has head coaching experience in the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes. He led Carolina to the Stanley Cup Title in the 2005/06 campaign and took the Flyers to the final in 2009/10. His most recent job was with the Flyers, but he became the first coach to be canned this season when he was let go after just three games with his club winless in them.

Nashville General manager David Poile said he appreciates the aggressive offensive style of hockey Laviolette is known for and feels he’ll be an excellent teacher for the team’s younger players as well as the veterans. Laviolette said he can’t wait to arrive in Nashville to help the club get back on the right track. Poile and Laviolette worked together at the Sochi Olympics this year where Poile was the American squad’s general manager and Laviolette was aboard as an assistant coach.

Laviolette’s coaching record in the NHL currently stands at 389-282-25-63 and he’ll be helped out in Nashville by assistant coaches Kevin McCarthy, Phil Housley and Lane Lambert. Poile is hoping that his new coach can get the team’s offense to reach its potential. When Trotz was in charge the club was generally regarded as a team that concentrated on defence first.

Nashville captain Shea Weber is looking forward to working with Laviolette as he would rather the team play more in the offensive zone than in their own end. The defenceman told NHL.com, “I think everyone likes playing with the puck. When you’re playing offense, you’re not playing defense, so it’ll be something different but I think guys will like it.”