FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida director Paul Maurice keeps everyday things simple. He appears early for work and has a wealth of coffee. Trust your assistant coach to do his job. Sit at the meeting if necessary. A consistent message with hammer home players. I sometimes swear a little, and sometimes I swear a lot at other times.
Hey, that works.
In the third consecutive Stanley Cup final with the Panthers, Maurice’s style – laughing occasionally, others incredibly smart and serious – continues to bring results to Florida. He was 41-51 in his playoff career before coming to Florida. He is 41-21 in his playoff career in Florida. The coaching life form was already respected in the game before the Panthers took him on, but nothing has ever been closer to a run like this before.
“I’m not rude to the other teams I coached,” Maurice said. “The team here, this is the best team I’ve ever coached. It’s not that close.”
The Panthers, the Stanley Cup winners of last season, will attempt a back-to-back title after visiting Edmonton for Game 1, a rematch on Wednesday night. Florida defeated the Oilers in seven games last year in Maurice’s first cup in his 30-year career.
“Yeah, I’m not going to get bored of hearing it,” Maurice said.
This is a hilarious game of war, with Maurice and the Panthers players getting engaged recently. Players don’t want to shower after being praised for making three consecutive cup finals. The coach insists that it’s all about them and that he just pushes a few buttons here and there.
The truth is that there are enough credits to turn.
“He keeps things light, but he expects us to work hardest of us and he’s very prepared – I know I said this before – he can wake you up in Columbus or whatever mid-year, and it feels like a playoff game.” “His speech and our ability to run through each game to the wall are a great gift.”
However, speeches are not filibusters. Maurice believes it is very important to have the ability to go to the locker room and say exactly what you need to say without saying anything more. He is not afraid to tell his players that they are playing inadequately. He is not afraid to tell his players that he loves them.
He is also not afraid to make himself a joke ass. Florida was the team that won the 122-point presidential trophy in the season before Maurice arrived. The Panthers managed 92 points in their first year of his time.
“Coaching,” he said. The 30-point drop has been largely the adjustments made by a change in style, and that change led to the Cup final, but Maurice doesn’t miss the opportunity to tease the way he turned a 122-point club into a 92-point club overnight.
Panthers defensive man Seth Jones has come to Florida for his trade deadline this season. He learned a lot, including a new system, new expectations, new teammates. He also had to learn how to learn coaches differently.
“That’s not what I had,” Jones said of Maurice’s style. “I think he knows how to actually film the temperature of the group and the situation of the group. And he can be very intense, call out a team, call out a team. But he can also throw jokes there, throw funny clips while he’s doing video. He’s very smart.
What the Panthers learn is important.
Think about how the title series progressed last season. The Panthers won their first three games and were on the brink of the Cup. They then lost Game 4 and Game 5.
Maurice began talking to his players about freedom and playing with that feeling. Game 7 was perfect. The Panthers won, and in the parade about a week later, Maurice ended his rain-soaked, extremely profane remarks, throwing his arm into the air and yelling “Free!” to his team at the top of his lungs.
“He gets buy-in from players and treats us all the same. This is really important as a coach and I think it’s really important not to treat people differently,” Tkachuk said. “He expects us all to work hard, treat each other with respect and everything, but he treats us exactly the same. He’s a great coach and we’re very fortunate to have him here.”
