SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Paul Maurice never considered himself retired. He was good.
Here’s what that means: When Maurice stepped down as coach of the Winnipeg Jets in December 2021, it wasn’t clear if he would take another job. Some teams called. He’d listen. He’d then hang up the phone still convinced that his time would be better spent continuing to fish for walleye on Lake of the Woods, where he has a little spot.
And then the Florida Panthers called.
“Pardon the pun,” Maurice said. “I was hooked.”
This is no wild fisherman’s tale anymore. The Panthers are in the NHL’s final four for the first time in 27 years, set to take on the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final starting Thursday. They’re eight wins away from their first Stanley Cup. So is their coach, someone with the sixth-most regular season wins in NHL history but who has yet to hoist the grandest silver chalice in all of sports over his head.
“I think he’s got a phenomenal feel for what we have in our locker room and what he needs to do to push our buttons to make us play at our best,” Panthers forward Eric Staal said. “I wouldn’t be the first guy to say I think he’s a phenomenal coach. He’s our leader and we’re really happy to play for him and play for each other. For sure, he has a great pulse on what we have. And we want to continue to just keep building this thing as the playoffs can move on.”
If any player can speak with authority on the trajectory of Maurice’s career, or his effectiveness, it’s Staal. Maurice was his first coach — ironically, with Carolina in 2003. He’s played for nine other coaches, and now is reunited with Maurice with the Panthers, with the Hurricanes waiting for them in a matchup to decide which club will represent the East in the Stanley Cup Final.
Can Maurice be a yeller and screamer? Oh, absolutely.
Can he also be a comedian? Oh, absolutely.
Maurice’s viral rant on the bench in late March during a Florida game at Toronto is one of the biggest moments of the Panthers’ season. He shredded his team, a profane rant the likes of which he rarely if ever doles out publicly. “A nice opportunity to share my feelings,” he called it.
The Panthers won that night, kick-starting their push to the playoffs and they haven’t stopped kicking since.
“He’s coached probably over 2,000 games in the NHL,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said, coming close but slightly overshooting Maurice’s total of 1,881 games…