Florida Panthers Coach Paul Maurice Keeps It Light During Playoffs

SUNRISE — When Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice meets with the media, you never know what you are going to get as he mixes up game dissertation with humor and quick quips.

For instance, following Florida’s loss to the Maple Leafs in Game 4 on Wednesday night, Maurice was asked about his team not finishing the series and having to return to Toronto for Game 5 with the Leafs now having a new lease on life in this series.

Maurice interrupted the question, laughing as he did so.

The phrasing of the question reminded him of a scene from Will Ferrell’s ‘Semi-Pro,’ the one in which Jackie Moon panics when a bear gets loose in the Flint Coliseum and he does not help the situation as he screams at fans on the PA.

Is it time for the Panthers to panic because they lost one game?

That was Maurice’s way of saying no.

“We would expect at the start if it went to a Game 7, we would smile,” he said. “We lost a game today. That happens in the playoffs. I think it has happened to everyone.”