 He left Asiago in 2003 to sign with the Augsburger Panther of the German top-flight Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).He remained in that position until the end of the 2004-05 campaign, in which he had guided the team to a DEL playoff appearance.Laporte was named head coach at fellow DEL side Nürnberg Ice Tigers for the 2006-07 season.