Paul Maurice finally lifts lord stanley's mug
There is a first time for everything.
After 26 seasons as a head coach in the NHL, Paul Maurice has finally won the ultimate prize — the Stanley Cup.
“I’m usually not lost for words,” Maurice told Scott Van Pelt of Sportscentre in an interview after reaching his lifelong goal. “I’ve been chasing this thing for a while, and it's not like I thought it would be — it’s so much better.”
Maurice’s indescribable feeling was well earned. Beginning his coaching career in 1995-96 with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes organization, he’s now coached a grand total of 1,985 games in the NHL. And despite his 938 wins behind the bench, none of them ever led to his team hoisting Lord Stanley’s trophy — that is, until now.
On Monday night, Maurice coached his Florida Panthers squad to a Stanley Cup-clinching victory over the Edmonton Oilers, taking the Game 7 thriller at Amerant Bank Arena by a score of 2-1.
With yet another Game 7 win under his belt, Maurice boosted his Stanley Cup Playoff Game 7 record to 5-0 and removed himself from the top of the list of most coached games without winning the 131-year-old trophy. But most importantly, he will be known to the Panthers as the man who took the team to its next level, leading them to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
On June 22, 2022, Paul Maurice was hired as the new head coach of the Panthers. It was a questionable decision at the time, as many wondered why Florida management would move on from Andrew Brunette, its interim coach at the time who led them to a Presidents’ Trophy finish.
After getting swept by their Florida rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, however, Panthers GM Bill Zito made a bold choice to move in another direction. He hired Maurice, who was contemplating retirement after resigning as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, stating, “This team deserves a new voice in the room.”
In his first year, Maurice guided Florida to the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights after hobbling into the post-season with an eighth-place finish. Their luck finally ran out though after Vegas took them down comfortably in five games, winning the clinching game by an astounding 9-3 score.
Last year's heartbreak alone was enough to fuel the 57-year-old Sault Ste. Marie, ON. native and his team to return once again, except win it all this year.
And that’s exactly what they did.
But it didn’t come easy. In fact, Maurice and his Panthers were only one goal away from suffering one of the biggest collapses in NHL history, allowing the Oilers to come back in the series 3-3 after leading 3-0 through the first three games.
“We needed to lose three in the finals to learn how to win four,” said Maurice. “And the fact that it was so hard makes it so special.”
Maurice told the media post-game his team had gotten away from its game after leading the series 3-0 and needed to start simplifying again.
“The word that we used over the last three days was the freedom to play the game,” said Maurice. “What was different about us tonight is that we played with some freedom, we made plays, and we didn't play the game not to make mistakes and certainly not to lose, but we tried to win the game.”
The most eye-catching thing the Panthers head coach had to say after capturing Lord Stanley, however, had to do with his former team, the Winnipeg Jets.
“If I could have one thing more, it would be for the Winnipeg Jets to win the next Stanley Cup,” Maurice mentioned.
Maurice, who coached the Winnipeg Jets for nine seasons (2013-14 to 2021-22), holds the franchise record for games coached (600) and wins (315), already maintains a special connection to the city of Winnipeg, but shouting them out after just winning the Stanley Cup is certainly a classy move by the veteran coach.
“The Winnipeg Jets are special in the National Hockey League,” said Maurice. “It’s one of the best franchises in the National Hockey League. Everybody (Manitobans) loves the team; they live and die for them.”
Four different franchises; 1,985 games coached; three Stanley Cup Final appearances; now, all that matters is that Paul Maurice is a Stanley Cup Champion.
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