“End of an error” – NY Rangers firing head coach Peter Laviolette after disappointing 2024-25 season ignites WILD reactions from NHL fans

After missing the playoffs and finishing the 2024-25 season with a 39-36-7 record, the New York Rangers fired Peter Laviolette as head coach.

“End of an error” – NY Rangers firing head coach Peter Laviolette after disappointing 2024-25 season ignites WILD reactions from NHL fans

Peter Laviolette (Image via NY Post)

On Saturday, Peter Laviolette‘s time as the head coach of the New York Rangers came to an end. The 60-year-old was fired from his duties by the team after a disappointing 2024-25 season saw them miss the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The former Rangers star joined the team in 2023. In his debut season, the team won the Presidents’ Trophy as they finished with a 55-23-4 record and 114 points. His second season at the helm saw the team underperform.

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After starting the year with a 12-4-1 record, the Rangers seemed to be on track for another deep playoff run. However, in the months of November and December, the team struggled on the ice and saw them end the year 2024 with a 16-19-1 record.

Following some shocking trade moves, the team did bounce back a little. However, they never got back into a winning rhythm and kept dropping several games. They eventually finished the year with a 39-36-7 record and 85 points.

As the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs commenced on Saturday, the Rangers made a big announcement and fired Laviolette. He thus ended his tenure with the team with a 95-59-11 record.

Associate head coach Phil Housley was also relieved of his duties by the team. According to reports, assistant coaches Dan Muse and Michael Peca will get the opportunity to interview for the new coach of the team.

Social media reacts to Peter Laviolette being fired by NY Rangers

Following a good start to the season, the New York Rangers suffered a massive slump in form. Despite some roster changes, they team were unable to turn their season as they would have hoped for and ended up missing the Stanley Cup playoffs. All of this led to the team firing manager Peter Laviolette.

Peter Laviolette
Peter Laviolette (Image via NY Rangers Insider)

His firing by the team ignited some wild reactions on social media. While some were surprised to see him being dismissed from his position, some of them seemed happy to see him go. One user wrote, “End of an error” to wildly react to this development.

Check out that and some other reactions from X below:

Laviolette also became the second successive coach of the Rangers to be fired from his position after two seasons. His predecessor, Gerard Gallant, was also sacked from his head coach role after two campaigns with the team. Before him, David Quinn was the last head coach to stick for more than two seasons with the team.

Rangers GM Chris Drury breaks silence regarding disappointing 2024-25 season

After a disappointing 2024-25 season, General Manager Chris Drury fired head coach Peter Laviolette from his duties. After announcing this decision and releasing a statement regarding this, he broke his silence regarding the performance of the team in this season.

Chris Drury
Chris Drury (Image via NY Rangers Insider)

While speaking with the media on Saturday, the GM admitted that he made some mistakes and expressed that the team had high confidence after falling just short in the Eastern Conference Finals last year.

Leading into the season, given the success we had the last few year, we had high expectations. Quite simply, we fell short across the board… It starts with me. I need to do a better job and give the staff and players the opportunity to succeed.

Chris Drury told the reporters as per Mollie Walker

The 48-year-old then spoke on the matter of firing Laviolette and expressed that the team needed a “new voice” in the locker room.

While ultimately I made the decision a new voice was needed behind the bench, everyone here — players, management, staff, need to take ownership of this season and will be having direct, honest conversations during exit meetings on Monday about what our expectations are for the summer and moving forward, getting ready for next season.

Chris Drury added as per Mollie Walker

It now remains to be seen who will take charge of the Rangers as the head coach next season. The names of Rick Tocchet and John Tortorella have been linked to his position. While Tocchet is in the final year of his contract with the Vancouver Canucks, Tortorella was also fired from his position by the Philadelphia Flyers. Both of those teams also failed to reach the playoffs this year.