Kinder, gentler Maurice acknowledges past mistakes with players

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This article was published 26/11/2019 (2112 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paul Maurice is an oft-described players’ coach but the Winnipeg Jets bench boss said Tuesday he’s developed some rocky relationships in the locker room over his career.

And he wasn’t always kind to some players in his 22 years behind NHL benches.

“If you go back over anyone’s career, there are going to be relationships that didn’t go well. When you’re constantly pushing to a threshold to get the most out of players in an intense environment, you’re going to have situations where players feel they should have been handled differently or they didn’t like it. You do the best you can,” Maurice said after the team practised at Bell MTS Iceplex.

“I think there is a real awareness over the last year, certainly on our staff. If I’m going to give anybody credit, I’m going to give the assistant coaches credit for kind of pushing me to evolve, to be more understanding, maybe, of young players. More caring, possibly.”

Maurice was asked for his take on news coming out of Toronto about recently fired Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock. Several former players have blasted him for his coaching tactics and the intimidation of young players. Specifically, during the 2016-17 season, Babcock asked then-rookie Mitch Marner to rate his teammates based on their work ethic, and then Babcock shared the list with the rest of the group. Marner confirmed the incident with reporters Tuesday in Toronto.

Maurice didn’t get into specifics, but noted his captain once pulled him aside and requested he treat a young player more considerately.

“You guys won’t get the player right, but Blake Wheeler grabs me about a year-and-a-half ago and says, ‘Just be nice to the guy.’ And I’ve got a list of about 14 reasons why I shouldn’t be because of his play, but that stuck with me. The game has changed and the players, especially (because) we have such a young group, those interactions have to change,” said Maurice.

“When I first started, you’d handle a man a whole lot different than you’re handling them now. With that being said, I got a list, I’m sure. There’s a list — every coach has one — of guys who didn’t like the way you talked to them, who didn’t like the decisions (you made). I’ve sat out captains, I’ve sat our hall of fame players in the playoffs. You’re going to have players who don’t love you. That just goes with the job.”

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Jets back-up goalie Laurent Brossoit was visibly perturbed with Maurice’s decision to stick with goalie Connor Hellebuyck in the latter stages of Winnipeg’s 4-3 triumph Saturday over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.

Brossoit started cramping up and was lifted with 8:41 remaining in the third period and the score knotted 3-3. He headed down the tunnel and returned to the bench after winger Andrew Copp scored the go-ahead goal with just 1:54 left, but Maurice let Hellebuyck finish things — a move that, at the time, left Brossoit shaking his head — and the team’s No.1 goalie was credited with a five-save win.

Brossoit said Tuesday his competitive fire got the best of him at that moment but wouldn’t temper his reaction if faced with a do-over.

“Obviously, you always want to finish something that you start, but things happen and I couldn’t continue, and it’s a bittersweet scenario. But the team got a win and that’s the No.1 priority,” he said.

“I have no regrets. Obviously, I’m all jacked up. It’s an intense game and it was tied, and you never want to leave a game tied, especially with that much time left. So, I went in and got my body right and I wanted to get back out there, I think that’s a reasonable thing out of a competitor.

“I wasn’t happy at the time but I talked to Paul (Monday and Tuesday) and, honestly, hindsight is 20/20 and I think I would have done the same thing in his shoes.”

Brossoit sucked on mustard packs, following in the cramped-up footsteps of Mark Letestu earlier this season, as a remedy for muscle cramps, without success.

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Bryan Little’s perforated eardrum continues to heal and the dizziness the veteran centre has felt since being hit in the side of the head with a shot is easing up. He’s also doing light workouts on a stationary bike, Maurice said.

Little was seriously hurt Nov. 5 when an errant shot by teammate Nikolaj Ehlers struck him while he was skating out from behind the New Jersey Devils’ net. He needed more than 25 stitches to close the wound and spent two days under observation in the neurology unit at Health Sciences Centre.

There’s still no expected date for a return to the lineup.

“They need to let his eardrum heal and then once that happens they’ll assess what the next phase is. He’s feeling better, the dizziness has come down and he is making progress, but it’s just going to take some time before everything heals inside,” Maurice said.

Meanwhile, forwards Mason Appleton (foot) and Gabriel Bourque (lower body) skated prior to the Jets practice but both are likely two weeks away from returning to action.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell