Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is enjoying return to Raleigh, N.C.

RALEIGH, N.C. - Peter Laviolette, the fiery coach who has the Flyers sitting atop the NHL at the all-star break, does not hold a grudge.

So when he returns for Sunday's 4 p.m. All-Star Game, in the city where he directed Carolina to the 2006 Stanley Cup, he will not bring a defiant, see-what-you-let-go attitude.

Laviolette is back in Raleigh, cocoaching one of the all-star teams because his Flyers are atop the Eastern Conference.

And even though Carolina fired him a little over two years after he led the Hurricanes to their first Cup, Laviolette has no bitterness toward the franchise.

"The hiring and the firing, you almost have to expect it when you sign on for the job," he said. "You know at some point there's a chance you can get fired. I truly look at things like that."

Getting fired "is never an easy thing," Laviolette added. "Usually your team's not going the way you want. It's always better on the way in than the way out. Saying that, it's something that you just deal with."

Danny Briere, who will play for Team Lidstrom - which will be coached by Laviolette and Vancouver's Alain Vigneault - said his coach has a satisfying feeling to return to Raleigh on these terms.

"I think it's pretty cool for him," Briere said. "To see him come back here with the best team in the NHL at this point, it's got to be pretty special for him. As an organization, me and Claude [Giroux] and Peter are here, but it's a reflection of everybody's work in the first 50 games of the year."

Since his firing, Laviolette has been back to Carolina with the Flyers. But this is the first time he has returned with such a glaring spotlight.

"My memories of the fans and the community [are great]," said Laviolette, who coached the New York Islanders for two seasons before taking the Carolina job. "We were here for five years. For us, that's a pretty long time. We enjoyed our time here. We settled in. Our kids went to school here and we have great friends here. Lots of sleepovers going on [Thursday] night with the kids going in different directions. We met people for lunch and we're going to meet some other people later. So we have lots of great memories outside of hockey here."

Fueled in part by the Hurricanes' 2006 championship, hockey has made great inroads in Carolina. Tailgaters are out en masse before 'Canes home games. And thousands flocked to the NHL Fan Fair, full of hockey-related exhibits and activities, during the all-star weekend.

"They've really taken to the game," Laviolette said. "Carolina has put a competitive team on the ice and the fans have come out and supported it throughout the years. Now everybody's kids are playing hockey and the youth base has grown here, so there's a lot of positive things that have happened because of the team."

Carolina all-star Eric Staal played for Laviolette when the Hurricanes won the Cup. Now he is the captain of the team that will oppose Laviolette's squad in Sunday's All-Star Game.

"He's a good person. He's an up-tempo, upbeat-type of guy who likes to play an aggressive style," said Staal, adding it was "disappointing" when the 'Canes canned Laviolette. "I enjoyed playing for him."

As far as coaching in his first All-Star Game, Laviolette - whose team includes Steven Stamkos, Henrik Sedin, Tim Thomas, and three members of the Blackhawks team (Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith) that ruined his summer - said there won't be much strategy involved.

"I would think you probably just call out the line and they go out and do great things because they're so good," he said. "I'm new at this and learning my way as well."

One of the great byproducts of the event, Laviolette said, is the camaraderie it fosters among players and coaches.

"You get to see players from the other bench, or the other color than your color on the ice," said Laviolette, who has been spending time with Joel Quenneville, the coach who directed Chicago past his Flyers in last year's Finals. "You only appreciate them as a hockey player. I saw [Atlanta's] Dustin Byfuglien and talked to him a little bit. I met [Detroit veteran] Nick Lidstrom. I had never met him before. He's just a nice guy, but you don't get to realize the personal side of things; it's always business" during the regular season.

"That's what's kind of neat about this event from my standpoint, anyway, is that I get to meet some of the guys and just talk to them."

After Sunday's game, Laviolette will head to Tampa for Monday afternoon's Flyers practice, the start of what he hopes will be a push toward another Stanley Cup run. For one day, though, he isn't thinking about the 32 remaining regular-season games.

He's looking ahead to Sunday's showdown, which is expected to be a high-scoring, wide-open affair.

"Hockey with no stress," Laviolette said. "I'm a big fan of that."