[ad_1]
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Paul Maurice retains the day-to-day routine easy. Show up for work early and have copious quantities of espresso. Trust assistant coaches to do their jobs. Sit in on conferences when wanted. Hammer dwelling a constant message with gamers. Swear a little bit bit typically, swear profusely at different occasions.
Hey, it really works.
In the Stanley Cup Final for a 3rd consecutive season with the Panthers, Maurice’s model — laugh-out-loud humorous at occasions, extremely good and severe at others — continues to ship outcomes for Florida. He was 41-51 in his playoff profession earlier than coming to Florida; he’s 41-21 in his playoff profession with Florida. A training lifer, he already was well-respected inside the recreation earlier than the Panthers introduced him aboard, however he by no means had something near a run like this till now.
“I’m not being disrespectful to the other teams I’ve coached,” Maurice mentioned. “The team here, this is the best team I’ve ever coached. It’s not really that close.”
Winners of the Stanley Cup final season, the Panthers will attempt for back-to-back titles beginning Wednesday evening after they go to Edmonton for Game 1 of a rematch. Florida beat the Oilers final yr in seven video games for Maurice’s first Cup in a 30-year profession.
“Oh, I’ll never get tired of hearing that,” Maurice mentioned.
It’s a hilarious recreation of tug-of-war that Maurice and the Panthers gamers are engaged in nowadays. Players don’t need to be showered in reward for making a 3rd consecutive Cup remaining; the coach insists that it’s all about them and that he simply pushes a number of buttons right here and there.
The reality is that there’s greater than sufficient credit score to go round.
“He keeps things light, but he expects us to work our hardest and he’s very prepared and — I know I’ve said this before — he can get you up for a Tuesday night game against Columbus or whatever in the middle of the year and it feels like a playoff game,” ahead Matthew Tkachuk mentioned. “His speeches and his ability to get us to run through a wall each and every game is a big gift.”
The speeches aren’t filibusters, nonetheless. Maurice thinks it’s critically essential to have the flexibility to enter the locker room, say precisely what must be mentioned and depart with out saying something extra or something much less. He’s not afraid to inform his gamers that they’re enjoying poorly. He’s not afraid to inform his gamers that he loves them, both.
He’s additionally not afraid to make himself the butt of the joke. Florida was a 122-point, President’s Trophy-winning crew the season earlier than Maurice arrived. The Panthers managed 92 factors in Year 1 of his period.
“Coaching,” he quipped. The 30-point drop was largely to the adjustment made by a stylistic change, and that change led them to the Cup remaining, however Maurice by no means misses an opportunity to make enjoyable of how he turned a 122-point membership right into a 92-point membership in a single day.
Panthers defenseman Seth Jones got here to Florida across the commerce deadline this season. He had plenty of studying to do — new methods, new expectations, new teammates, all of that. He additionally needed to learn to get coached in a different way, which he rapidly realized wasn’t a foul factor.
“It’s different than what I’ve had,” Jones mentioned of Maurice’s model. “I think he knows how to really take the temperature of the group and the situation of the group. And he can have a meeting where he’s very intense, calling guys out or calling the team out. But he’s also very good at throwing a joke in there, throwing a funny clip in there when we’re doing video. He’s very smart. I think he understands what the team needs at any given time. I don’t think he gets too high or too low based on certain situations.”
That, the Panthers have discovered, is essential.
Consider how the title sequence went final season. The Panthers received the primary three video games and have been on the point of the Cup. Then they misplaced Game 4. And Game 5. And Game 6. The brink of the Cup turned the brink of a collapse, actual quick.
Maurice began speaking to his gamers about freedom and enjoying with that feeling. Game 7 was flawless. The Panthers received, and on the parade a few week later, Maurice ended his rain-soaked, extremely profane remarks by throwing his arms into the air and yelling “Freedom!” on the prime of his lungs to his crew.
“He gets the buy-in from the players and he treats all of us the same, which I think is really important as a coach and not to treat guys differently,” Tkachuk mentioned. “He expects us all to work hard and treat each other with respect and everything, but he treats us all the exact same. He’s been a great coach and we’re super lucky to have him here.”
[ad_2]