Capitals players surprise coach Laviolette with gift for 700th career win

Alex Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals teammates congratulated coach Peter Laviolette on Wednesday for winning his 700th career NHL game. 

Ovechkin, standing between fellow leaders Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson in the locker room, gave Laviolette a silver stick in honor of the second-year Capitals bench boss for his recent achievement. The team posted a video of the surprise on Twitter. 

“Lavy, from us on the team we want to congratulate you with the 700 career NHL wins,” Ovechkin said

The boys took time to recognize Lavi for his 700th career win this morning before practice#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/andpbLLo6M

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 23, 2022

Laviolette won No. 700 with Washington’s 4-1 win over Nashville last week. He now has 701 career wins, good for ninth all time. 

“It’s unbelievable, I wasn’t expecting that. Thank you guys very much,” Laviolette said Wednesday. “I’ve been really lucky. I’ve worked with a lot of great coaches and a lot of great players. And certainly, get to work with that every day here. So it’s a pleasure to be here with you guys and battle every day, thank you for this. Very nice.”