Predators to introduce Peter Laviolette at Music City Sports Fest
The new bench boss will be publicly introduced to fans and media alike at the Music City Sports Fest on June 1st.
After Peter Laviolette was announced as Barry Trotz's replacement, there were a few questions being raised about how accommodating he'd be with the Nashville media. Trotz, after all, had been with the team since its inception and had to do a bit more publicity to help get the team off the ground. That continued through his tenure because of that and because he was just generally a great guy. Laviolette has coached in established markets, so would that change the entire dichotomy Nashville has seen over the last 15 years?
Apparently not just yet, as Kevin Wilson tweeted some news earlier this morning:
The @PredsNHL will introduce head coach Peter Laviolette to the Nashville public/media @MCSportsFest at 12:15 p.m. on June 1
— KWilsonPreds (@KWilsonPreds) May 21, 2014
Since Laviolette has been in Minsk coaching Team USA at the worlds, the only interaction with the media has been through a brief conference call a day after his hiring. Now, not only will he get a formal introduction but a public one at that. Sure, the Predators need all the publicity fan interaction they can get, especially after the last couple of seasons. But having the new coach available immediately, rather than waiting for something like the Skate of the Union, still shows that Nashville isn't like any other hockey market.
Now I wonder if Frank the Turtle will be there...