That seems to be the case whether he's coaching the Philadelphia Flyers or his 14-year-old's son team.
While just as vocal, you probably won't see Laviolette yelling atop a bench at Peter III's youth hockey games in New Jersey, as he did during a Flyers-Penguins game in April.
"I doubt it. Something's really going to have go crazy," Laviolette said.
But you can feel his passion and love for the game at Thursday's practice, even though he's just an assistant coach.
"You want kids to come out here and enjoy it and have fun. This isn't the National Hockey League. This is kids trying to get better, trying to become better hockey players. If you can influence that in any way then that's a positive step," Laviolette said.
Laviolette loves coaching hockey even at this level, but what he loves most about this experience - he's with his son.
But yes, he admits, he is tough even on his own child.
"You're always a little more critical of your own kid, so I think my son may catch the wrath of me once in a while," Laviolette said.
Laviolette can catch his son Peter from behind the bench for their first game come Sunday.
