In their own words, Panthers explain their ‘utmost respect’ for Paul Maurice
Paul Maurice does what he can to deflect the credit. As he leads the Florida Panthers on the most triumphant run in franchise history — three Stanley Cup Final appearances and back-to-back championships in his first three years at the helm — Maurice insists it’s not primarily his doing. Any success the Panthers have should be directly toward the players.
“They do the real work,” Maurice said. “We just drink coffee and swear.”
But Maurice does so much more than that even if he doesn’t want to admit it.
He’s the selfless leader with more than three decades of coaching experience. He’s the wise coach who seems to know exactly what to say and when to say it and how to say it. He’s the architect of the defensive structure that makes opponents hate to play against them and finally had Florida in position to thrive in the playoffs.
And now, Maurice is a two-time Stanley Cup champion after going his entire career — which included stops with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (twice), Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets before joining Florida — wondering if he’d ever win it once. He became just the third head coach the expansion era (since the 1967-68 season) to win multiple Stanley Cups in his first three seasons with a team, joining Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan (2016 and 2017) and Los Angeles’ Darryl Sutter (2012 and 2014).
“He really has control of this team,” said Panthers center Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe as playoffs MVP after scoring 15 goals throughout the postseason and is a player Maurice regularly points out as the identity of the team. “The team’s really just bought into the culture that he’s implemented into this team, and we’re all willing to do whatever it takes and play that hard style that he keeps preaching to us night in and night out and we’ve all just bought into that over the years.”
Why is that? Maurice says it starts with honesty and directness.
“If you walk into the room and you just tell the truth, whether they want to hear it or not but it’s the truth, and over time you could look back and say, ‘What that person told me was the truth,’ you’ll have respect for that,” said Maurice, who signed a five-year contract extension early in the season to remain as the team’s head coach. “So, I work hard at trying to find the truth every day and then just telling it as simply as I can with the occasional joke slipped in. Most times I’m the only one that thinks it’s funny.”
And through it all, through the turnaround (both for himself and the franchise) and through the winning, Maurice has remained wholly himself.
“I don’t think he’s changed since winning,” Bennett said. “He’s the same. He can be hard on us. He’s hard on us when he needs to be, and then he’s relaxed with us when he knows that we need to, so I think he really does have a good feel for what our team needs. We all have the utmost respect for him.”
That’s clear based on almost anyone you talk to.
In their own words, here’s what various members of the Panthers organization had to say about Maurice:
▪ Star winger Matthew Tkachuk: “He keeps things light, but he expects us to work our hardest and he’s very prepared and — I know I’ve said this before — he can get you up for a Tuesday night game against Columbus or whatever in the middle of the year and it feels like a playoff game. His speeches and his ability to get us to run through a wall each and every game is a big gift.
“He gets the buy-in from the players and he treats all of us the same, which I think is really important as a coach and not to treat guys differently. He expects us all to work hard and treat each other with respect and everything, but he treats us all the exact same. He’s been a great coach and we’re super lucky to have him here.”
▪ President of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito: “He’s a very bright man. He’s a teacher. He’s a coach. He’ll push, he’ll pull, he’ll harp. But you don’t want to disappoint him. His character is so high that, working with him, he makes you want to be better because you don’t want to disappoint him.”
▪ Defenseman Seth Jones, who joined the Panthers at the trade deadline in March: “He doesn’t change at all. I think ever since the first day I came in here, the first meeting I had with him, he was very direct. He knows what he wants you to do. He gives you your role. He knows how the team plays, how he wants you to play, your strengths, your weaknesses and so on. So he’s great in front of the team. Knows when to keep it light, when to joke around, when to be serious. He’s got a great temperature on the room, and in the playoffs, we’re a team that we don’t dwell on wins, we don’t dwell on losses we live in the moment game by game, and he does a great job of that. It’s always moving forward. It’s always how can we get better? And that’s really the main thing, and the impressive thing.
“It’s different than what I’ve had. I think he knows how to really take the temperature of the group and the situation of the group. And he can have a meeting where he’s very intense, calling guys out or calling the team out. But he’s also very good at throwing a joke in there, throwing a funny clip in there when we’re doing video. He’s very smart. I think he understands what the team needs at any given time. I don’t think he gets too high or too low based on certain situations.”
▪ Forward Carter Verhaeghe: “He’s one of a kind. We see his sense of humor with you guys and everything like that, and he kind of has the same sense of humor with us. He keeps everything light, but makes you want to work; and for the right reasons, for each other. At any given time, he knows what the group needs, whether it’s a clip of [Niko Mikkola] doing something on the ice on video or something like that. So it keeps us loose and focused at the same time, which is good.”
▪ Panthers president and CEO Matt Caldwell: “Paul is obviously an absolute professional, well respected, inspirational leader. He’s got a great working relationship with Bill Zito. The three of us have a great, great relationship, and obviously the team success has been phenomenal, but the culture that’s been built, you can tell how much the players love playing for him. Sam Bennett was just recently talking about how much the players respect their coach, and appreciate this destination franchise that we have. I’ve learned a lot while watching him.
“He’s got a very cool, calm demeanor. He sticks to his process. He communicates really well. He doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low. He’s a great teacher, but I just think his ability — you could see from the team, like we’re a very resilient team, and we respond to anything that happens on and off the ice. Watching him, he knows when he’s got to keep people accountable. He knows when he has to correct people, but he also knows when he’s got to be patient and communicate and teach more. So just his balance of managing all the emotions of the game and the long season is very inspirational to watch.”
▪ Defenseman Gustav Forsling: “He’s got a great hockey mind, but he’s very smart and he sees the game very well. Just a great guy overall. He’s a great human being. That’s one thing that really stood out to me, how good of a human he is and that he really cares.”
▪ Forward Brad Marchand: “He’s very good at getting his messaging across, relaying what style of game that we need to play. He does a great job at making changes throughout series and throughout games and then just the way he makes you feel the passion that he obviously has. He’s just one of those people that knows how to bring the best out of every player.”
▪ Defenseman Nate Schmidt, who briefly played for Maurice in Winnipeg: “They give you a blueprint of how he wants you to play, and he molds that around your strengths as a player and he doesn’t ask you to do more than what you should be doing. It’s not the easiest system just to jump into, but he expects a certain level out of each guy and if you give that to him, there’s no problem. And that’s something that I find it was freeing for me, and once you kind of settle into how he wants you to play and into what kind of role he wants you to be in, it takes a lot of the pressure off.”
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