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May 12, 2023
Paul maurice
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice, center, instructs his players during the first period of Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sunday, May 7, 2023, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Michael Laughlin)

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.”

Most of Maurice’s entire media session following the Game 4 loss was like that. It certainly did not have a doom-and-gloom feel to it.

Instead of getting dark, Maurice kept things entirely light, tossing out one liners throughout his time on the podium.

Did your team make the Leafs’ rookie goalie too comfortable?

“We kept talking about that before the game,’’ Maurice said, “we wanted him to feel comfortable.”

On not being able to blame Sergei Bobrovsky for the loss: “Isn’t it better when you can just blame him? No, we can’t blame him.”

On a puck being deflected off an official leading to Toronto’s first goal: “We put the refs on the wrong part of the ice a couple of times and that caused us some problems. We’ll see if we can fix that.’’

On Thursday morning, with the large Toronto media contingent gone — the ones he jokingly asked to “try and hide your glee” the night before — Maurice continued keeping things light although he did turn serious from time to time.

When asked if the way he approaches the media is how he speaks with his team — perhaps in a way to keep things loose — Maurice said the two have nothing to do with each other.

While Maurice isn’t lighting into his team as he famously did in Toronto back on March 29 or cussing out officials which cost him $25,000 (also in Toronto), there is time for both jokes and targeted profanity around a team.

Paul Maurice Goes Off On The Florida Panthers. The Internet Loved It

The Panthers are not off at a summer camp filled with evening songs around the fire.

They know they have a job to do and are prepared by their coaches to do it.

“We certainly want to create an environment — and this isn’t just for these playoffs — it is how we perform” he said. “We judge ourselves on how hard we are to play against, how hard we play. And that’s a very serious matter. It’s not all giggles. But you have to be able to enjoy it.”

If the Panthers are relaxed during these pressure-filled times, Maurice says it is not because of how he handles his pressers. If he has something to say to his team, he says it to them — not through the media.

“I’m not trying to give you a look at how our room is like, I’m not trying to create a brand for myself or my team,’’ Maurice said. “I’m not working the team through the media to send messages. I’ll just go in the room and do it face-to-face in there. I am more relaxed with the media more than other guys but that doesn’t tell you what the tone of our meeting was today. And I’m not telling you.

“We’re serious about the matters which are important to us. Very serious. There’s not a lot of joking around. We deal with what we have to get better at and that’s what this is all about.”

Maurice is known around the NHL media circles as a coach reporters very much enjoy dealing with.

A conversation with new Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice

He has television experience from breaks in his coaching timeline and is known to go in deep on his hockey philosophy.

Maurice is, what old-school reporters call, a ‘notebook filler.’

Speaking with Maurice is often a learning experience, his time with the local media before and after games and practices sometimes borders on a college lecture.

Maurice’s dissertations on the game are welcomed in a time when many coaches make sure the media knows his time could be spent in better ways than talking to a bunch of reporters.

He has been a student of the game from his time playing in junior when he retired as a defenseman and joined the coaching staff of his hometown Windsor Spitfires in 1988.

Maurice has been an NHL head coach upon being promoted as a first-year assistant coach with the Hartford Whalers in 1995 in which he became the second-youngest coach (28) in NHL history.

Today, Maurice is the NHL’s active leader in games coached just ahead of New Jersey’s Lindy Ruff.

“He has coaches probably over 2,000 games in the NHL and literally has seen every situation out there,’’ team captain Sasha Barkov said. “He knows how to handle it. He is the guy we trust, the guy we believe in and love playing for him. He knows what to do, tells us the right thing. Sometimes we have to keep it loose, sometimes we have to wake up. He is going to do that.”

With NHL stops in Hartford, Carolina (twice), Toronto, Winnipeg and now Florida, this is Maurice’s 10th trip to the postseason. The 2002 Hurricanes made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.

The closest he has been to the Cup since was in 2018 when his Winnipeg Jets lost to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference finals.

Maurice knows runs like the one the Panthers are currently on — their loss Wednesday snapped a six-game playoff winning streak — do not come around very often.

You certainly do not want nerves getting in the way, and his Florida team does not seem to have any.

The Panthers have not shied away from any situation thus far.

Perhaps their coach is to credit for their grace under fire.

“Knowing Paul as long as I have and playing for Paul as long as I have, I think he has adapted and adapts to the what he feels the pulse of the room is and what kind of group he has,” said Eric Staal, who was on Maurice’s Hurricanes team in 2002.

“He has a phenomenal feel for what we have in our locker room and what he needs to do to push our buttons and make us play better. I wouldn’t be the first guy to say I think he is a phenomenal coach and is a guy who is our leader. We’re really happy to play for him and play for each other. He has a great pulse for us and we’re going to keep building.”

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK
STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS
EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
PANTHERS (WC2) AT TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (ATL2)
GAME 5 (Florida Leads 3-1)
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