GM Mike Milbury knows this likely was the last coaching hire he’ll make for the Islanders. The Peter Laviolette era began yesterday and if it flops, the Milbury era ends, too.

True to form, Milbury made an unpopular choice with the fans in tabbing the unknown Bruins assistant over former Buffalo coach Ted Nolan.

“I told [owner] Charles [Wang] this may not go over particularly well with the public,” Milbury said at yesterday’s news conference. “I’m not immune to it. The easiest thing for me to do would’ve been to hire Ted. I told Charles if it doesn’t work, I enjoyed working with you.”

Laviolette signed for two years guaranteed, the same length Milbury has remaining. Laviolette also has two team-option years, though it would kick in automatically if the team makes the playoffs. The Isles haven’t in seven years.

“This is the right guy for this team,” Milbury said. “There hasn’t been a lot fun around here lately, Peter. We’re counting on you to change that. He has the ability to relate to people. The ability to touch someone in the room is an art form. He has that.”

Laviolette won an AHL title for the Bruins’ affiliate in Providence in 1999.

“One of the first things I want to do is change the atmosphere, so that we expect to win every night,” said Laviolette.

Milbury passed over the former coach of the year Nolan and, strangely, lobbied for his return to the NHL yesterday even before mentioning Laviolette’s name. Nolan has been blackballed for severe disputes with Daren Puppa and John Muckler.

“The guy’s been smeared and it’s unfair,” Milbury said. “I hope the NHL will see fit to find this guy an opportunity because he deserves it.”

For his part, Laviolette, passed over twice by the Bruins who were fearful that he had no NHL head-coaching experience, showed a sense of humor, good-naturedly chastising former Isles defenseman Dennis Vaske for comparing him to legend Al Arbour in published reports.

“If Dennis comes back and someone calls me to ask what they’re getting, I’ll say nothing short of Bobby Orr,” he joked.

Laviolette also called up his wife to the podium, saying “She’s pretty, so I want to bring her up here.”

The Isles’ situation, though, stands ugly and Milbury vowed to be a major player this summer in landing a marquee addition. Jaromir Jagr, Michael Peca, Alexei Yashin are all available in trades and Jeremy Roenick, Pierre Turgeon and Joe Sakic are unrestricted free agents.

“I’ve never seen this number of big-name players available,” Milbury said. “We have the assets to either pay them or trade for them. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t make an impact with an acquisition.”