Former Jets coach Maurice back for first time as champion

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This article was published 19/11/2024 (367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Classy? No question. Clairvoyant? Time will tell.

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice raised plenty of eyebrows last spring when, mere moments after conquering hockey’s highest summit, he gave a shout-out to his former employers and said he hopes the Winnipeg Jets are next in line to win the Stanley Cup.

“I hope he has a crystal ball somewhere and that he’s right,” Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey told the Free Press on Tuesday as his club prepared to host its former bench boss at Canada Life Centre. “He invested a lot of time and energy and emotion into his time here in Winnipeg so I thought that was pretty cool and hopefully he’s right.”

It’s safe to say Maurice’s comments were well received around these parts given the impact he had over parts of nine seasons.

“Paul was an amazing coach, an amazing person here for a long time,” said defenceman Dylan DeMelo, noting Maurice set the table for the type of hockey that his successors Dave Lowry (on an interim basis), Rick Bowness and now Scott Arniel have pushed them to play.

“He was a huge part of changing this organization and making them into a top team in this league.”

Yes, Maurice’s December 2021 departure was messy with a shock resignation in the middle of the year. At the time, he stated he felt his message had grown stale with a group that appeared to be trending in the wrong direction after reaching the Western Conference Final in 2018.

But the roots — and the relationships — still run deep.

“My daughter lives here. My kids went to high school here. So much of this is just home and Winnipeg is a special team,” Maurice said as he returned to the city for the first time as a champion.

“It’s not like anyplace else. It’s in a different market. It’s not the biggest market. They’ve lost their team, it’s come back. There’s a connection there.”

As for what prompted the unsolicited remarks to Sportsnet during the on-ice celebration, Maurice chalked it up to raw emotion.

“It’s like most things in my life. It’s out of my mouth before my brain decides whether I should say it or not,” he said with a laugh.

“I still love this place. I would love for all of the people that I love here in Winnipeg to feel what I was feeling on the ice.”– Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice

“There’s this incredible sense of peace. I love those guys in that (Florida) room. And it’s so hard to win. But I feel the same way about everybody here (Winnipeg). I still love this place. I would love for all of the people that I love here in Winnipeg to feel what I was feeling on the ice. Euphoria, certainly relief on my part, but it’s a feeling of all of the people that you love are happy at the same time and I would love for Winnipeg to feel that because it would make the Jets even more special. “

The Jets seem to have taken Maurice’s words to heart, getting off to the NHL’s best start in history by winning 15 of their first 16 games. Of course, no trophies are being handed out in November.

“It’s great. It’s flattering. Somehow we gotta get through 82 games before we worry about that,” Arniel said Tuesday.

“I’ve got a ton of respect for Paul. How he goes about his business over these years is pretty amazing. At the end of the day, to hear that, that was obviously a nice moment.”

Maurice has repeatedly told his Panthers to enjoy the journey, even if it wasn’t a straight one to the top. He took over a team that won the Presidents Trophy in 2021-22 (under Andrew Brunette) but was upset in the opening round of the playoffs straight to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022-23, only to lose to the Vegas Golden Knights.

They followed that up a year later by beating the Edmonton Oilers in a classic, seven-game series filled with emotional swings.

“We had to find a way to work harder than the other team, but also have more fun,” Maurice said of finally getting his team over the top.

“And I’m talking about having fun while you’re working that hard. On the bench, when it’s s——y. When it’s the tie game with eight minutes left, you’ve got to find a way to enjoy that. We talked about that all the time and we talk about it when we get to those situations in games now, that we have to figure out a way — even when the coach is growly — to enjoy it.”

You get the sense a similar mindset might serve his old club well, especially after some recent stumbles served up a stark reminder that it’s never easy.

“… these guys are now in their prime, they’ve played together, they’ve got a really, really strong structure, not just to the game but to their lineup.”– Paul Maurice

“They’ve come of age. Their best players, I think they might even be a little bit older than we are. I mean these guys are now in their prime, they’ve played together, they’ve got a really, really strong structure, not just to the game but to their lineup,” Maurice said of the differences he now sees in the Jets from his tenure.

“They’ve got a dominant checking line, which means they’re going to be very strong at home. And tremendous speed, like right straight through those 12 and the back end can move the puck to them. And Connor Hellebuyck’s in behind them. So we don’t feel, and we didn’t, that there are any holes to their game. They don’t have any.”

One thing is clear: Maurice will continue to root for them. Unless, of course, next year’s Final happens to be Panthers versus Jets, which isn’t out of the realm of possibility at this stage of the game.

“We’d like to hang onto it if we can for a while. Maybe after we’re done,” he said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg