Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice walks back into the bright glare of Toronto hockey in series against the Leafs.
The 56-year-old reflects on his career as Maple Leafs’ coach before of Tuesday’s Game 1.
Paul Maurice was driving back from the rink one day.
Then came an epiphany. In the pressure cooker of hockey’s most intensive media market, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ then-head coach was concerned about his messaging after conducting a series of interviews.
Maurice had had enough at that point.
“That’s it,” he remembered telling himself. “I will never, ever care about what I say again. I’m simply going to try to tell the truth, then get off and leave. And if I make a mistake, it is my fault.
“That’s one of the things that I learned here.”
Maurice is back here — in Toronto, 15 years later — with the Florida Panthers in the second round of the playoffs, coming off a spectacular upset of the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Boston Bruins.
In his second NHL coaching job, the 56-year-old led the Leafs for two seasons, from 2006 to 2008. Despite having captained the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes for over a decade, Maurice soon realized he was not prepared for the heavy scrutiny and pressure.
“Really valuable to me,” Maurice said Tuesday of his time in Toronto prior to Game 1 against the Leafs. “I’ve learned a lot that I’ll apply in the future. In reality, most of it has to do with dealing with the Canadian market. It’s an entirely different animal. You must be conscious of the consequences of what you say in your room.
“I don’t think that I was necessarily prepared for it.”
Maurice has obviously figured things out since.
He would return to Carolina for a second term, coach for a year in Russia, and then spend parts of nine seasons with the Winnipeg Jets before retiring in December 2021.
He assumed he was finished with coaching until last June.
“A number comes up on my phone that I don’t know,” said Maurice, whose team defeated Boston after trailing 3-1 in the best-of-seven series against a squad that set NHL records for victories and points. “I’m not answering since I don’t know the number. And then I received a call from [Panthers general manager] Bill Zito. Four days later, I arrived in Florida.”
The Panthers won the Presidents’ Trophy previous season with the best record in the league, but after a dismal second-round playoff loss, they made significant changes in the offseason, including the addition of Maurice and the signing of Matthew Tkachuk.
Florida was in serious trouble in late March, when Maurice unloaded on his squad in full public view during a game at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, leaving his team facing a fifth straight regulation loss.
The Sault-Ste. Marie, Ont. resident, who was beet-red and had veins bulging from his face and neck as he went nuclear, achieved his goal. The Panthers won that game in OT before winning the next five to get to the playoffs.
“Changed our season,” Tkachuk stated. “We got the ball moving. “I can’t really write that story the way it happened.”
Eric Staal, a veteran forward, played for Maurice twice in Carolina before returning to the Panthers.
“Him and I both look a little older now,” Staal explained. “That’s probably the most [angry] I’ve seen him in terms of letting the fellas have it. He’s quite strategic in what he does and how he addresses problems.
“He wouldn’t have done it if he didn’t know that our group could handle that.”
Maurice, who is sixth on the NHL’s all-time coaching victories record, also headed the American Hockey League’s Toronto Marlies for a season, which is the same path to the Leafs pursued by current head
“Paul’s been around, seen it, and done it all,” said Keefe, adding that Maurice contacted him when he won the Toronto position in 2019. “Whether as a junior coach, [AHL] coach, or NHL coach, Paul has been tremendously supportive.
“He does a great job as a coach, but also for coaches and for the league.”
Tkachuk credits Maurice with propelling his game to new heights after scoring a career-high 109 points in 2022-23.
“I’ve loved every minute of it,” Tkachuk remarked. “He’s really brilliant and someone I’ve learned a lot from. I’ve really enjoyed playing for him.
“Made me a much better player.” For that, I thank him. What he could do with
