What former Predators coach Peter Laviolette said about his first trip back to Nashville

The first person Peter Laviolette saw at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday morning was one of the first people the former Nashville Predators coach thinks of when he thinks of his time with the team.

Locker room attendant Craig "Partner" Baugh was there to greet Laviolette, whom he didn't want to let go.

"Put two massive bear hugs on each other, exchanged our I love yous," said Laviolette, who returned to Bridgestone for the first time since he was fired as the Predators coach in January 2020. "He was the first guy I saw when I got here this morning, so that was spectacular."

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Laviolette's Washington Capitals were in town to take on the Predators on Tuesday night. He spent five-plus seasons with Nashville, winning 278 regular-season games, 61 more in the playoffs, a President's Trophy and two Central Division titles. He also led the franchise to its only Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2017.

All those memories rushed back as the Capitals' charter plane approached Nashville. They began to come to light when he stepped off the plane.

"It hit me first leaving the airport and driving downtown and seeing the new construction going on just since I left in a year and a half, seeing so many buildings I don't recognize. They went up quick. It's a booming place. It's good to be back."

Plenty, too, has changed with the team Laviolette used to coach. But not everything. 

Not Roman Josi's memories of being coached by Laviolette for all those seasons. Not his motivational pregame words, his commitment to family. Or the time one of Laviolette's bets with his team turned into the coach wearing a bull mask during his postgame meeting with the press after a victory in Edmonton, a meeting that was filmed by many players, including P.K. Subban.

Josi said he still keeps in touch, mostly via text, with his former coach, who is in his second season with the Capitals, the fifth team he's coached.

"We had a lot of bets like that," Josi said. "That was one. I remember when (the coaches) wore Christmas suits on the bench. That was a bet too. Those are things he always did, always some kind of challenge for us."

Laviolette chatted at length with a former co-worker at the end of the hallway late Tuesday morning, just outside the visiting locker room. 

For a day, at least, it was good to be at a former home.

"It's good to be back," he said. 

Reach Paul Skrbina at pskrbina@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @PaulSkrbina.