April 12, 2019 at 06:24AM
People chuckle when Kristen Laviolette talks about her power drill.
What does the wife of the Nashville Predators head coach need to know about construction tools?
Well, plenty.
Behind the scenes, Laviolette is a cheerleader and community builder among the ladies of blue and gold.
Wives, girlfriends and fiancees of the Nashville Predators makeover Hope Lodge entertainment room Courtney Pedroza, Nashville Tennessean
She organizes dinners filled with endless laughter, gives out tiny gifts for good mojo on game days, and leads the spouses and partners of the Nashville Predators in service projects throughout the city — all in the spirit of togetherness.
That last one is where the drill comes in.
"Remind me to plug it in before we go," Laviolette recently called across the room to her two loyal collaborators, Tracey Henry, wife of the Preds' CEO, and Rhonda McCarthy, whose hubby is the team's assistant coach.
Buy Photo Kristen Laviolette hangs curtains in the entertainment room at Hope Lodge on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. As part of a room makeover, the significant others of Predators players and coaches painted walls, hung framed jerseys, brought in a huge entertainment center and spent two solid days enjoying time with each other. (Photo: Courtney Pedroza/The Tennessean )
A few weeks ago the three women led a room makeover at Hope Lodge, bringing the Predators' significant others together to add some team spirit to the place, which provides a free home away from home for cancer patients and their caregivers.
They painted walls, hung framed jerseys, brought in a huge entertainment center and spent two solid days enjoying time with each other.
Hockey can be an unpredictable career for a family, and that comes with obvious sacrifices. Cross-continental moves are common as players switch teams, and the time they spend away from home can stretch on and on.
Having get-togethers and parties and leading community projects helps the players' biggest fans — their wives, fiancees and girlfriends — connect with and support each other. And Laviolette is the woman behind that.
"It's a sisterhood and a friendship," Laviolette said as she took a break from a morning spent painting walls at Hope Lodge. "A support group for each other. We're a family."
Buy Photo Kristen Laviolette, wife of the Predators' coach, and Tracey Henry, wife of the Predators' CEO, use a level to hang photos at Hope Lodge on Tuesday, March 12, 2019. (Photo: Courtney Pedroza/The Tennessean )
'It makes us all stronger'
When Ida Bjornstad moved here from Sweden three years ago, she left a career as a sports broadcaster behind to be with her fiancee, Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm.
Coming to an English-speaking country, to a city where she knew no one, was disorienting. She had left her family behind, and would soon be raising an infant son.
But Laviolette welcomed her with a warmth that put her at ease.
"Coming into a room, with her big smile on, she makes you feel like the most important thing," Bjornstad says.
It's part of who Laviolette is. She has been the wife of a hockey coach for more than two decades. She has seen her husband's NHL career move between four cities. She knows what it's like to be the new woman in the room, and the veteran.
Buy Photo Kristen Laviolette drills holes in photos as part of a room makeover at Hope Lodge on March 12, 2019. (Photo: Courtney Pedroza/The Tennessean )
From team to team, she has brought the culture of togetherness.
If somebody needs a baby sitter, or to run to the pediatrician, or has a sick dog, Laviolette is always there to take a call or make a connection. She makes sure no one is home feeling lost or alone.
"We believe when everybody feels like they're a part of something, it really makes us all stronger," Laviolette says. "... They have roots and a group they can rely on."
Predators General Manager David Poile says that is part of what sets the organization apart. It's been an evolution, he said, with the league recognizing more and more the importance of the support system at home.
"There's lot of sacrifices the families make, from the travel to the hours to the highs and lows," Poile says. "Your husband playing well, your husband not playing well.
"... Kristen totally, totally gets it. And it makes a difference."
Never alone, even when the guys are on the road
The players' time away can be some of the hardest stretches.
With at least 41 road games a season, wives and significant others may spend two months or more without the hockey-focused men in their lives. Then comes playoff season, which for the luckiest of teams could mean a run deep into June.
So Laviolette fills those empty spaces.
This season's weeklong western road swing was the perfect opportunity to complete the Hope Lodge project.
Buy Photo Kristen Laviolette directs the makeover of the entertainment room at Hope Lodge on March 12, 2019. Significant others of Predators players and coaches painted walls, hung framed jerseys, brought in a huge entertainment center and spent two solid days enjoying time with each other. (Photo: Courtney Pedroza/The Tennessean )
Sarah Hamhuis, wife of Predators defenseman Dan Hamhuis, was there with a paint roller in her hand. Marlene Vanderklok, wife of Predators goaltending coach Ben Vanderklok, brought daughter Ava along to help out.
When the women are working together, of course they talk hockey. But it's more than that. They talk about their son's playoff game or their daughter's dance recital. Their new puppy. "The Bachelor."
"We're talking about everything," Laviolette says. "... We genuinely care about each other and love each other. We are there with our friends and our hockey family."
And, she adds, together they are making their mark on the city.
Buy Photo Tracey Henry, Rhonda McCarthy and Kristen Laviolette plan while making over the entertainment room at Hope Lodge on March 12, 2019. (Photo: Courtney Pedroza/The Tennessean )
The ladies help with the players' initiatives, like Weber's Woof Pack, which is a dog meetup group created by Preds defenseman Yannick Weber, his girlfriend, Kayla, and their dogs, June and Willow.
But it goes beyond that. Last month the women hosted a baby shower for five military mothers, shopping together for special items.
The Predators players themselves welcomed seven babies to their hockey family last season, so all the women knew exactly what to buy for their special guests.
"We brought them to town and showered them with a bazillion gifts," Laviolette says.
Through a program called Special Spaces, they create dream bedroom makeovers for very sick children in one day of power drills, paintbrushes and excitement that ends with a special reveal in a "move-that-bus" kind of moment.
Laviolette also serves on the board of directors for the Nashville Predators Foundation, which gives grants to hundreds of nonprofits throughout the city.
"It means the world," Laviolette says. "It makes us feel so helpful and fills our hearts with so much love to give back."
Mojo gifts and a playoff journey jar
And the women truly love Laviolette for it.
From the moment a new player becomes part of the team, so does his significant other — starting with a big smile and a personal welcome from Laviolette.
"I have always thought that we needed to bring more women into this sport," Bjornstad says. "I feel they can see more the human side.
"Peter and Kristen are so good together because they see both performance and what the players are doing on the ice, and they still see the personal side of this, too. With Kristen's help, it is something we do all together."
And that means celebrating all the successes. It starts at the beginning of the season, with what Laviolette calls "mojo" gifts. They are fun little spirit boosters — nail polish, keychains, charms that by the end of the season will make a bracelet. Something significant to what's happening in the season at the time that helps pull all the women together.
"We found, being in the league so long, that seasons fly by," Laviolette says of herself and McCarthy, whose husbands have coached together for many years. "You try to remember everything, and the seasons almost run into each other. So, I love to have things that's significant to certain events, so when you look back you are reminded.
"... We have created a lot of fun memories and significant memories, and we want to remember them."
Buy Photo Kristen Laviolette and Tracey Henry hang an autographed Predators jersey as part of the makeover of the entertainment room at Hope Lodge on March 12, 2019. (Photo: Courtney Pedroza/The Tennessean )
With the playoffs in full swing and the Predators facing off against Dallas in the first round, Laviolette is focused on journey jars.
This special playoff novelty is something Laviolette started three years ago.
After each playoff win, Laviolette brings her trusted crew of wives together to create a meaningful trinket — small enough to place in a tiny jar — that will remind them of the victory.
Two years ago, it had Elizabeth Poile bedazzling dozens of tiny brooms after the Predators completed a first-round playoff sweep of the Chicago Blackhawks.
By the end of the playoffs this season, Laviolette hopes to have made 16 trinkets — one for each win en route to the Stanley Cup.
No matter how far the team gets, Bjornstad doesn't hesitate to say it will be as much about Laviolette's leadership as her husband's.
"We are all going through a journey," Bjornstad says. "She makes the journey count."
Reach Jessica Bliss at jbliss@tennessean.com or 615-259-8253 and on Twitter @jlbliss.
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