George Richards, FHN Publisher
On Thursday morning, the Florida Panthers introduced Paul Maurice as the 18th head coach in franchise history.
The next day, he spoke with Florida Hockey Now on a variety of topics including putting a new coaching staff together — and his hope that Andrew Brunette sticks around after being the team’s interim head coach last season.
“I think we will work very well together,” Maurice said.
Maurice also talked about how the Panthers’ current salary cap situation is going to mean some “decisions have to made” and said he embraces the high expectations around this team.
Last season, the Panthers set a franchise record by amassing 122 points — the most in the NHL.
They also led the league in scoring but the season ended with a thud as Florida was swept out of the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Maurice, who has been an NHL coach since he was promoted by the Hartford Whalers in 1995, says he does not want to change the way the Panthers play the game but they need to realize the way they play in the regular season should be how they play in the postseason.
First off, congratulations on the new job. Could you describe your excitement level for coming to the Panthers?
After you spend some time in the league, you start to understand the importance of style and fit in coaching. The fit has to be with management and ownership. When I stepped back from the game, I kind of made myself a deal that I was going to only ever consider going back if all the pieces were there.
I want to enjoy my job and I want to enjoy my life. In order for that to happen, you have got to be in a place where your family can thrive, where you have a team that has a chance to win.
The biggest part of it is you have to work with people who you feel can make you better. So, I know my job is to come in here and take this team to another place but one of the big drivers for me, I believe, is the people here are going to make me a better coach.
Looking at the teams you have taken over — Hartford first, then Toronto, Carolina again and Winnipeg — this Florida team looks like the best situation you have walked into.
Right, in terms of walking into it. So, the Hartford Whalers had never won a seven game playoff series. And I don’t believe they’ve made the playoffs in six years prior. The Winnipeg Jets had never won a playoff game since moving from Atlanta. So when we started, we had a long way to go. And both teams had general managers who did a spectacular job.
It’s not easy to build. What Bill Zito has done here — and his predecessor, he’ll tell you as well — what they’ve done here is great. To step into a team where the talent level is in that group of great teams, it’s very exciting.
The Panthers are built around core players such as Sasha Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aaron Ekblad. Any concern these players have only won one playoff series in their careers or is there excitement in the challenge of trying to get them to the next level?
I think that’s the story of all teams that amass a bunch of talent and then they get over the hump. That doesn’t concern me one not one bit, because there were a lot of years there where you did not expecte them to make the playoffs and, if they did, they weren’t truly in contender status. They kind of would have had to punch above their weight maybe just to make the playoffs.
Most teams have to lose first before they win big, right?
The level of investment has to continue to get higher and higher and higher. And what you do is you invest an awful lot into your year and truly give everything that you have. If it doesn’t work, what happens is your capacity to compete grows. So I like the way this team works. They’re on the puck right? They play at a high level and they play fast. They have the capability to increase the capacity to compete.
We’re not coming in saying these guys don’t work hard or they don’t compete. It’s no different than someone who takes up running and they run as hard and as fast as they possibly can and you get your time. Then a year later, you run as hard and fast as you can and you’re five minutes faster. You’ve increased your capacity to compete.
What kind of changes to the systems do you plan on making?
Most of the new systems that we bring in will be all defensively related. I would say instead of change, we’re going to focus on addition. What can we add to our game? I have no reason to believe that any coach would come in and try to hold them back offensively. But we do need to tailor our offensive game to the style of game that’s played in the playoffs. Because it’s a different game.
Again, if you finish Game 82 and say, ‘OK, now we’re going to change our style to get ready for the playoffs’ it’s way too late. You can’t manufacture playoff hockey over an 82-game schedule, I get it. But you can think about the game that way. And you can make decisions and hold players accountable with your offensive structure.
The decisions that you make in a regular season game are going to be the same decisions you can make in a playoff game, even though the intensity is so much higher. It’s more about adding things defensively, and then making sure what we do offensively is repeatable in the playoffs.
Right now, Tuomo Ruutu — whom you know very well — is the only assistant coach committed to next season. How much thought have you put into your new staff?
Well, we were at the starting process for that. I have names, Bill has names, the rest of the organization has people and these are important names. We’re talking about relationships here, so we’ll get into a room and we’ll start talking about people who we feel are qualified.
There are a lot of good candidates out there and we all have relationships with these people and know their character and their work ethic. We are in the process now and phone calls are being made and interviews are being set up.
Bill Zito said he would like to see Andrew Brunette return. Would you be comfortable having the former interim coach on your staff?
The door is 100 percent open. I don’t know Andrew, but two or three of my very closest hockey friends are very close with Andrew and it truly is an open door with us. I certainly understand if he felt he wanted to get another start. But I am completely optimistic that if he does decide that he’s interested in coming back, it would be great for us. I think we would work together very well.
Two of my closest friends in hockey are very close friends with Andrew, so communication has been made. But he needs some time to process all of this. There’s no there’s no pressure on him to make a decision right now. We’re going to let him take his time and certainly see what else is out there. I think there’s something here that could be great for him as well.
In your press conference you spoke about being impressed with the planning Zito and his front office staff have done. They seem to have a plan for anything that happens. With the Panthers being up against the cap, do you have a good feeling for what next season’s roster will look like?
That is a big part of my being here, just watching him work. During my interviews, hearing the ideas that they have, you very quickly realize that these guys here are active. They are pursuing ideas all the time. They have a Plan B and then a Plan C. There are going to be some challenges next year with the cap and there are some decisions that have to be made.
This was a 122-point team so people are going to expect 123 points and five more goals next year. That’s a part of the reason that I’m here to understand that we have to get in front of it if things get a little rocky and the challenges get a little tough.
Funny how life works sometimes, right? A few months after your son Luke decides he is going to go to Law School at the University of Miami and here you are the new coach of the Florida Panthers.
It’s all part of this whole experience that I’ve had here. Everything just fit right. Luke fortunately had an opportunity to go to a bunch of different places. And he came in and said, ‘Hey, I just got into law school at the University of Miami.’ I did not say a word. I just say, ‘Oh, that’s nice.’ I did not want to influence him with what I was thinking and this was way before the Panthers were in the picture.
But I’m thinking, ‘hey, I’m going to have one of my kids is going to school in Miami. I got a place to go in the winter. This is going to be great.’ So I did not influence it. He came down for a three day visit. Before he came home he called and said ‘this place is unbelievable.’ So it all just fell into place.
And the golf is pretty good down here as well.
You know what’s funny about that? When I lived in North Carolina, I had a membership at the TPC, had a membership at the Raleigh Country Club. I’m obsessed by the game. One day it’s raining in Raleigh, and I’m driving with Luke and he says ‘Hey, Dad, why don’t we go into that boat shop?’
I haven’t swung a club since. I just got into fishing with my kids. Now I’m living in one of the best fisheries in the world right? You’ve got Lake Okeechobee, unbelievable bass fishing. You’ve got offshore — some of the best fishing in the world. My kids are pretty happy. I switched to fishing because my two boys loved it. We’ve never ever had a bad day on the boat. You have a bad day on the golf course, you can’t hit the ball straight and it kind of bothers you. But nobody’s ever had a bad day fishing unless your boat sinks. So I gravitated to that and have had such a great time for me to take my kids
You should give Aaron Ekblad a call. He’ll show you a good time out on the water.
I heard about that. He is getting a call for sure.
You have been friends with Pete DeBoer for a long, long time. He give you any South Florida real estate advice?
Yeah, he did. So Pete’s wife and my wife are best friends. So they’ve been great. Pete was going through this process of interviewing and coming to terms with Dallas and I just started the process with Florida.
We talked an awful lot here lately. It has been great to reconnect with him. It is a really good fit for him in Dallas. He’s got a great relationship with Jim Nill from their junior days and he and Joe Pavelski are very tight from their San Jose Bay. So it was it was the perfect place for him.
Florida Panthers coaching history
Roger Neilson 1993-95
Doug MacLean 1995-97
Bryan Murray 1997-98*
Terry Murray 1998-2000
Duane Sutter 2000-01*
Mike Keenan 2001-03
Rick Dudley 2003-04*
John Torchetti 2004*
Jacques Martin 2004-08
Pete DeBoer 2008-11
Kevin Dineen 2011-13
Peter Horachek 2013-14*
Gerard Gallant 2014-16
Tom Rowe 2016-17*
Bob Boughner 2017-19
Joel Quenneville 2019-21
Andrew Brunette 2021-22*
Paul Maurice 2022-present
(*) — Indicates midseason replacement