Stanley Cup winning Maurice still rooting for Jets

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This article was published 25/06/2024 (469 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paul Maurice is one classy champion.

It turns out reaching hockey’s ultimate summit — which he did in dramatic fashion on Monday night in Florida for the first time in his decorated career — isn’t the final item on his personal hockey bucket list.

“So if I could have one thing more, it would be for the Winnipeg Jets to win the next Stanley Cup,” an emotional Maurice told Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas during the aftermath of a 2-1 Game 7 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

That’s quite the shout-out to a former employer, one which quickly blew up on social media.

“I couldn’t believe it, my mouth dropped. What a show of absolute love for a city he so wanted to win in front of,” long-time Jets fan Bryan Leurquin told the Free Press.

“I got a chill — thanks coach! And congratulations!” said another, Jim Crick.

There were dozens of emails and Tweets sharing similar sentiments. Winnipeg clearly still holds a piece of Maurice’s heart — and vice-versa — despite the way things ended with the Jets in December 2021 with him announcing his sudden resignation with the club in a free-fall.

At the time, Maurice said he’d taken the group as far as he could, his message going stale following parts of nine years. The Jets reached the Western Conference Final in 2018, winning Game 1 before losing four straight to the eventual champion Vegas Golden Knights, but they never could replicate that kind of success under his guidance.

Maurice has gone on record many times as stating he was comfortable if that’s where his NHL coaching career ended. But the Panthers would come calling the next summer, fresh off a Presidents’ Trophy winning season which ended with a stunning first-round playoff exit and the firing of head coach Andrew Brunette.

Now, two years later, he’s won it all.

“It’s just brilliant. I’ve never hugged so many sweaty men in my entire life,” Maurice, ever the jokester, told the nationally televised broadcast about what it feels like.

“You know what, it’s not what I thought it would be. It’s so much better. It’s the hugs, man.”

Maurice then got choked up as he mentioned the importance of family, which clearly extends to those in Jets organization. His parents and two brothers, his in-laws and “all of the people that suffered through 30 years of me losing and making excuses.”

That’s the thing about being in the game as long as Maurice has. You’re going to suffer plenty of setbacks, and his name sits on top of a somewhat dubious list — most losses by an NHL head coach (736).

Maurice had also been 0-for-2 in Stanley Cup Finals — including his first year in Florida when they lost to Vegas in five games, and an ugly 9-3 beatdown in the clincher.

It looked like he might complete a notorious hat trick this year after his Panthers blew a 3-0 series lead against the Oilers and were on the cusp of a historic collapse, getting outscored 18-5 in three consecutive losses.

Credit must go to Maurice, a master communicator and motivator who clearly found a way to get his group out of a funk and come up with a clutch performance at the biggest time and avoid joining the 1942 Detroit Red Wings in infamy.

“It was perfect Florida Panthers fashion. Nothing’s easy for us,” Maurice told reporter Emily Kaplan in another televised on-ice interview on ESPN. “So we needed to lose three in the finals to learn how to win four. The fact that it was so hard makes it so special.”

“It was perfect Florida Panthers fashion. Nothing’s easy for us…The fact that it was so hard makes it so special.”–Paul Maurice

During the conversation, third-string goaltender Spencer Knight skated over to him with a special gift in his hands. Maurice bowed his head down towards the trophy, quietly said a few words, then raised it up high as the crowd inside Amerant Bank Arena exploded in cheers.

He gave it several kisses, then fittingly handed it off to assistant coach Jamie Kompon, who has been his right-hand man since joining the Jets staff in 2016.

Prior to Game 6 in Edmonton, the Free Press had asked Maurice about the bond he shares with Kompon, whose wife Tina has been battling cancer for many years.

“He’s an incredibly strong man. It’s real. The things they go through and yet he comes to work the exact same way every day is inspirational. You have a hard time walking in feeling sorry for yourself when you know what he and Tina are fighting every day for 10 years,” said Maurice.

“For me, we have different brains. He is hyper-disciplined in the way he thinks and the way he produces. I think we’re a great pair together. He’s just an incredible human being.”

As the Stanley Cup was further passed around, Kaplan asked Maurice if he wanted to share what he said to the trophy.

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“I’ve been chasing that for a while. Some unkind words about how hard she was to catch,” he replied.

Now a coach who sits second all-time in games (1,848) and fourth all-time in wins (869) is part of an elite group of champions. And, perhaps, Maurice has also cemented his legacy as a future Hall of Famer whenever he ultimately decides to hang up his whistle.

“Hey Dad, your name is going up with your heroes,” Maurice told Bukauskas as he fought back tears. “Béliveau. Richard. Howe. Lindsay. Maurice.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.