Paul Maurice remains cool, calm and comedic Florida bench boss laughs off concerns after two consecutive losses By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 6:15 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 20, 2024

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This article was published 20/06/2024 (468 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

EDMONTON — While his general manager may be going viral thanks to a video of him launching a water bottle into a wall the other night, you won’t see any signs of panic or frustration coming from Paul Maurice these days.

The former Winnipeg Jets head coach — no stranger to the occasional eruption on the bench — is instead painting a picture of poise and patience despite the fact his Florida Panthers suddenly appear to be in peril.

After building a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Edmonton Oilers, Maurice’s troops have failed in two straight attempts to capture a first Stanley Cup. Now, a third opportunity to try and close it out presents itself Friday night in the very building where doubt began to creep in last Saturday after they were demolished 8-1.

Lose that, and it’s back to Florida for a do-or-die Game 7 Monday in which the Panthers face the dubious prospect of becoming the second team in NHL history — and the first since 1942 — to suffer such a spectacular collapse on hockey’s biggest stage.

No pressure, gentlemen.

“You’re gonna think I’m lying to you. I’m more comfortable (now) because I understand the feeling of 3-2 because most series are like that; 3-0 is more of an aberration,” Maurice said prior to boarding the charter to the Alberta capital and arriving Thursday afternoon.

Wait, what?

“I’m not sure that I would agree with the assessment that the pressure has shifted so heavily to us,” Maurice continued, before seemingly realizing his audience may not entirely be buying what he was selling.

“You don’t have to report any of that. I wouldn’t. Most of the (expletive) that comes out of my mouth I’d never write down. Certainly wouldn’t sign my name to it.”

Now there’s the guy folks in Winnipeg came to know so well. Laughter often is the best medicine, and Dr. Maurice seems to recognize his sickly squad could use a major dose right now.

Case in point: His response to a question about GM Bill Zito’s fiery reaction to Connor McDavid’s empty-net goal in Game 5 on Tuesday in Florida which sealed a second Oilers victory (5-3) in an elimination game.

“I’m not sure that I would agree with the assessment that the pressure has shifted so heavily to us”–Paul Maurice

“Awesome. Were the bottled water association people upset? We going to cancel Bill?” Maurice cracked.

As he went on to explain, the Panthers played a much better Game 5 than Game 4, including a third-period push that nearly paid off. He believes they are learning on the fly and are much better prepared now than a week ago to do what’s necessary to finish this off.

It’s why Maurice insists that thinking about the hornets’ nest that will be Rogers Place on Friday night, with a rabid fan base getting one last chance to cheer on their hockey heroes, isn’t causing him to lose any sleep.

“So you almost feel it less. There’s a truth to kind of desensitization to extreme events,” he said.

“A fireman, firewoman’s first day on the job, first fire they go to, it’s on. There’s a lot going on. Ten years in, ‘Yeah, the blaze is three times the size. Doesn’t matter. You know what? I’m going in.’ There is something to that. So, the more playoff experience you get as a group, I’m not saying there’s going to be less juice, it’s just you’re not going to be overwhelmed by it because you’ve felt it.”

The biggest problem for Florida right now is stopping McDavid, who is blazing a potentially historic trail through these playoffs and absolutely torching them. He has eight points over the last two games, has already eclipsed Wayne Gretzky’s all-time assists record in a single playoff season, and is now just five points behind the Great One for that record, too.

It was just one week ago Maurice seemed to have all the answers. After leading the Jets to a 4-0 playoff series sweep of the Oilers in 2021, his Panthers won the first three to give him a perfect 7-0 mark against McDavid.

So what changed?

“Now, we’ve got kind of two games under our belt and I loved our Game 5 five-on-give play. I thought we showed some real maturity and growth in that”–Paul Maurice

“I don’t know that his expected goals have increased in the last two, they’ve just gone for him. But you would expect that to happen,” said Maurice.

“If he gets X number of chances, there’s going to be a point whatever six or seven per cent that it’s going in. He has a higher percentage than most players — very possibly any player — we have to limit that X. But we also understand that some are going in and it’s still 3-2.”

Leadership 101: Never let ‘em see you sweat.

It would help if the suddenly leaky penalty kill could revert to previous form, if goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky could put a couple rough outings behind him, if Florida’s best offensive stars could start shining bright and if the NHL’s second-best defensive team in the regular-season (Winnipeg finished first) could lock it down after giving up just four goals in the first three games, then 13 over the last two.

The Panthers are once again flying approximately 150 family members of players, coaches and staff members to Edmonton in the event of a victory which they could all celebrate together. The hope is this visit proves to be more fruitful than the last one.

“It’s more calm today than it was three, four days ago, and it’s just the experience as a piece of life that’s not like anything,” said Maurice.

“There’s no way necessarily to prepare for that new experience. Now, we’ve got kind of two games under our belt and I loved our Game 5 five-on-give play. I thought we showed some real maturity and growth in that. So, we’re learning. We’re learning how to do this. We’re learning how to feel it. “

Maurice faced many challenges during parts of nine seasons in Winnipeg, most notably in the spring of 2018 when the Jets reached the Western Conference Final, grabbed a 1-0 lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in rather dominating fashion — then lost four straight.

This is an entirely different animal given the higher stakes.

In that sense, Maurice’s legacy is on the line here. Find a way to finish off the Oilers and he puts an exclamation mark on an incredible coaching career by joining a rather exclusive club, one he has previously failed to join on two prior trips to the Cup final.

If this all goes south, it’s going to leave a major mark that no amount of humour or positivity will be able to erase.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg