Warsofsky Defends Laviolette: ‘Most Coaches Don’t’ Go Into Locker Room After Loss

New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette has been catching a lot of flak over the past week following comments he made after a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 6. San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky, on the other hand, thinks that the backlash is unwarranted.

Per Vince Mercogliano of USA Today, Laviolette told media, “I don’t have a message right now. I don’t go into the locker room after the game,” after his team suffered a 5-1 loss on their home ice last Monday. Many were upset by the comments, but according to Warsofsky they shouldn’t be.

“I think for [Laviolette] to get attacked [for] this is absolutely ridiculous, in my opinion,” the San Jose Sharks’ coach said.

According to Warsofsky, coaches normally do not go into the locker room following a loss: “I think if you were to take a poll around the league, there’d be a lot of coaches that don’t go in there.”

The San Jose Sharks bench boss did acknowledge that, in certain cases, it may be necessary though.

While many would assume that it would be customary for a coach to console, or lecture, his team following a difficult loss, it’s clear that isn’t the reality around the NHL. Warsofsky confirmed that former San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn, who he was an assistant for, also took the same approach while reiterating, “Most coaches don’t.”

Warsofsky explained: “This is an emotional sport, this is one of the most competitive games in the world, [these are] the most competitive people there are, as far as hockey players. So there’s a lot of emotion that goes into that. For us as coaches to go in there [after] a tough loss, it makes zero sense.”

Things have been far from ideal for the Rangers this season, within the past 24 hours they’ve been eliminated from playoff contention and had Calvin de Haan speak out on social media regarding his usage since joining the organization. Pierre LeBrun also believes that the Rangers will move on for Laviolette after the season.

The team’s underperformance this season has led to a lot of blame on Laviolette among others, but in this case, it’s undeserved.