Tim Army and Peter Laviolette Have Served as Lifetime Mentors
Derek Army was a hockey player’s hockey player during his padded career, and he traveled every corner country trying to make his dream come true. And it kinda-sorta almost did. On September 19, 2017, Army was a Nashville Predator during the NHL’s preseason.
These days, as the Nailers ride high on an 11-game winning streak, Army is chasing another dream, the real dream, the former forward insisted, is to coach at the highest level like his father, Tim did with the Capitals (1997-2002) and the Colorado Avalanche (2011-17). Army has been the man in charge for Wheeling since June 2021 and an interim and assistant coach before taking charge, and he’s already fifth all-time for most coaching victories (84) as the Nailers’ head coach.
“It is an honor, honestly, to be the head coach here in Wheeling because this is the place where I played the majority of my playing career and I love it here,” Army said. “But hey, someday, I’d love to get to the NHL level. Of course, I do, and that’s why I’ve watched my Dad so closely during his career.”
Army, though, isn’t the only one on the Nailers’ bench with the whole “follow my father to the NHL” goal. One of his players – the one who wears #11, stands at 6-4, and was born in Wheeling in December 1997 when his dad was Wheeling’s head coach at the time – wishes for the same destiny.
Wheeling forward Peter Laviolette III, son of Peter and Kristen Laviolette, is in his second season with the Nailers because, yes, he loves to play the game, but also because he’s a student of the sport.
“(Army) reminds me a lot of my Dad and the way I’ve always seen my Dad go about what he does to be so successful at the highest level, so yeah, I watch Coach (Army) closely because that’s what I want to do in the game,” he said. “I wanna be a coach in the NHL like my Dad.”
Laviolette II currently is the head coach for the New York Rangers, the same team he played 12 games for during the 1988-89 NHL season, and his squad currently is in first place in the Metropolitan Division with 69 points (33-16-3). He coached the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006, guided the Flyers to the finals in 2010, and Nashville, too, in 2017.
He is the winningest American-born head coach in NHL history.
“My father has had an incredible amount of success in his career and we’re all very proud of him. It’s his passion and I love to watch him work,” junior Laviolette said. “He started his head coaching career here in Wheeling so that’s why I think it’s awesome I’m here now learning a ton from Coach ‘Arms’.
“I love playing the game, I really do, but I know if I’m going to stay in it, it’s going to be as a coach,” he said. “(Army) has a great locker room because we all know we’re in it together, and my father does a lot of the same, too, with his players. It’s the right way to go.”
Like Father, Like Son
He and his brother and sister grew up in the world of hockey as Dad coached in New York, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Nashville, Washington, and now, New York again. He’s won more than 750 games and has advanced to the playoffs 13 times in 21 seasons.
So, following his footsteps is one thing, but filling his shoes is completely another.
“’Lavs is learning how he wants to go about coaching after his playing days are over, and I doubt he[s worried about matching what his father has done in the game. His father is the No. 1 American-born coach in the history of hockey,” Army said. “Plus, even though you’re a son, you still have different personalities because you’re different people.
“And Lavs has a great mentor in his dad and here in Wheeling he’s able to see from a player’s perspective how things works and how we go about things on this level,” the head coach said. “So, that way he gets to formulate his own kind of coaching mind. It’s all part of the process. He’ll take some things from his dad that he’s learned all his life, and then there’ll be some things from his playing experiences as he develops his own way of doing things.”
While Laviolette will be on ice this evening against Reading, he’s not on the Nailers’ active roster every evening and doesn’t travel every road trip.
“I’m working hard on my game so my teammates can count on me when I get my chances, and I’m also concentrating on taking advantage of the playing opportunities I get,” he explained. “I know (Army) has a job to do and he’s awesome at it and he makes me a better player every day. That’s why I believe he’ll get to where he wants to go in this game.”
