Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers Off Day: Stanley Cup Final v. Edmonton Oilers (G2)

Paul Maurice, Florida Panthers Off Day: Stanley Cup Final v. Edmonton Oilers (G2)

coach obviously before the series we talked a l about luy not being there last year not being here this year just what did it mean to see him get that empty net at the end and what kind of impact did he have in game one well we we always thought highly of them last year but I think uh absence makes the heart grow fonder when he missed that series we really noticed it it changed so much of what we do um he’s been a really good player for us this year he’s one of those guys on a team that that doesn’t get mentioned first but if you come into the room he’s one of those guys you need right he’s one of those allaround players that grinds hard that makes good plays that block shots that’s probably focused on the defensive side of the game so it doesn’t get quite as much notoriety but really important part of our team front right Paul I know you were very upset last night about how unbearable your household is now but what has it meant to you to watch Jake’s Evolution his growth his success and to have these side by side current playoff runs in the house go you’re just a dad right like so I think my overall favorite part is he’s fallen in love with a game that I did but found a different way to fall in love with it and is probably more passionate about it than I am so that’s a fun thing to watch your kid go through to you always want them to kind of like find a purpose find their thing find their reason and and he hit it at 16 right he got this kind of unusual break to call a game and he was just wired for it ever since so yeah I I’m thrilled for him it really important to to be associated with such a good organization so very well-run Craig brush who’s the president of that I knew 40 years ago in Detroit he came through the compu group with me so I met him years and years and years ago and Mr kis the owner of my team was the original owner of that team so there’s almost family connections to it um I still haven’t talked to him because now he probably has people I got to I got to get a hold of I got to go through go through his people to get a call but I’ll catch up with them later today I hope right side third row Paul when you you watch back last night’s game or or look at it with the emotion removed is is there anything in particular you’d like to see the team uh improve on I think it happened during the game we liked our third period an awful lot of the game and that would be the way we would like to look uh there wasn’t necessarily anything new there’s some of this is contextual and and it’s probably good for us to see we score early in that game and you find sometimes in those pressure games the team that scores early the other team gets to their game right away it kind of if it goes to even for a long period of time they just constantly feeling each other out right and that wasn’t so the we get the one they get some good chances in the first they feeling good and why wouldn’t they we get a big save on the PK and then score again so now you’re sitting there’s whatever 38 minutes of hockey left to go we’re up to we’re going to see them at their most dynamic and explosive and they were four and five up the Ice uh tremendous amount of speed off the rush so it’s it’s good to see that and then we we liked our third and and for us we hope that would be a starting point left side third row um you’ve got a a real good shutdown Center in barov obviously real good shutdown Dem man among a few in forsling what’s the benefit of having kind of one of each and in your experience against a you know somebody like McDavid the difference between assigning a center to that versus a d or a d pairing well I think the stronger match is almost always on the back end for all teams that uh that those guys would play more consistently against the other team’s best it’s I don’t know which is more difficult when the two big fellas are up or together it’s just an awful lot to handle I don’t view barov as a shutdown Center because he doesn’t hit the ice with the idea of this is all I will do he’s wired first to think defensively team hockey first but he’s pretty gifted Dynamic man as well and he carries that weight of having to do both and there’s there’s a challenge to it but as you will see with kind of there’s always a give and take in that we need barkov also to push the offensive envelope to make the play he made on the first goal so he’s it’s not a sitb back Gap game where all he does is grind it out he’s far more gifted than that right side first row hey Paul uh you kind of hinted at it there but how does dry saddle in particular make your life difficult like he’s carrying his own line then he’s matched up or he’s spotted with uh Connor you know coming off a power play or when they’re playing from behind he’s on the power play well you could just keep going man you got it you don’t going need me to answer that question for you and I mean this respectfully to all of you cuz I it’s me too you have become desensitized to how good those two players are and I understand why you see it every night and they are so Dynamic and so special but after a while you get used to it to the point that you’ll start saying why doesn’t it happen every shift well it almost does um they are really true special players because all aspects of the game you can do all things right and still not stop them so you have to have layers you have to have Gap but I don’t know how the heck you Gap that speed they’re just Dynamic left side second row uh Paul can I ask you um a little more on Jake um you know how much has he helped you sort of evolve with the media I know that he’s not technically media but it feels like being around you the last two postseasons you’ve really helped us do what we need to do with some of your answers no I’ve got an the first thing that pops into my head isn’t the last two years it’s so my kids weren’t allowed to get autographs uh growing up Ju Just I wanted my kids to see the players as people respectfully of people and and so they weren’t except were in Toronto and uh Matt sundan and Daryl sitler were the two autographs that Jake wanted and he was allowed to get and I I’m in a room and I’m watch him I said okay you can you can get those autographs and he’s walking over and then I go through that kind of I guess horror that all fathers might go through and I I would have no reason to because they were both incredibly generous men but as my kids walking over you’re going I hope they signed this autograph like what what if they say get out of there get away then I’m going to go into kill mode here like you and I and I so then I realize all of you are the same in some ways right like you’re somebody’s kid I know it doesn’t translate the well but you start to see then your your kid in the media and you know the Walter midot and he’s going to ask some coach a question after he’s got to get an interview he’s got to get a quote because he does Communications kind of as well like I would be some kind of sour if a Grumpy Old Coach because he lost 32 and I’ve done it and been in a bad mood and been pissy and I’ve done that but you do that to my kid and I’m got to hate on for you pretty quick so I’m mindful of that when I come in here now I’d like to think I was reasonably generous with my time and try to be thoughtful when I answer my questions my first sent with the media was in 2004 I think it might have been my second anyway I I won’t say the the network cuz it pisses people off the other networks get pissed off anyway I’m over in in U in Austria and I went over just to to see a tournament i’ never seen a World Championships couldn’t get invited to it so uh I went over to watch and I’m doing it with Darren Dreger and and I don’t know what this means all I know it’s about 11:30 it’s raining sideways and we’re standing outside cuz we got to feed something to a truck and I’m thinking this job sucks but I like I remember that going this is way harder right than than I thought and and that that had an impact on me too so I try to be respectful of your time and then you lose enough hockey games you lose the arrogance that you’re special or that your job special so we all got a job to do here today and and I know you sometimes especially when you get 7-Day block you’re grinding Kevin be ex asked me to keep my answer short sorry brother um but best but I get it I get it way better now than I did before this doesn’t have to be an adversarial relationship as a matter of fact not one of you missed a check last night so you’re all good with me and and somebody’s going to take a shot here at me and that’s part of your job too and I’ve learned not to carry the burden of other people’s opinion take Mr Rag and I actually I actually worked for both over time actually no that was Sports Net he that uh Mark Morrison was the guy that got me in yeah and then I went over and spent some time with Steve Dryden at DSN yeah take a few more questions for Coach right side fourth row Paul did a little Hockey Night in Canada too I’m just looking over there sorry so you’ve been doing this for a while uh I’m asking you about guys who are playing hurt and they want to play and I know the respect that guys get when they’re you know in the old days they’ take a needle I don’t know what doing now to get into games at some point when a coach sees a player who just can’t get there who’s not as effective yeah tell me about your role in making the decision that maybe it’s time for that guy to sit down Matthew good last year he had earned the right to play that game but he wasn’t playing the next one to his credit he had three great chances to score and we’re down a goal and he’s net front and if he’s healthy based on the playoffs he’s having he scores that goal and he and he couldn’t right and it was all he could do but he was so I’m watching a guy with a broken bone but it’s pain tolerance at that point right the doctor signed off if he can handle hand he’s earned the right to play that game because he says he needs it and and he’s earned it so I give him that game and then the question is is there you know you got to talk to him the next day that I wasn’t talking to him the next day right and and to his credit when I went to him I said Matthew it’s it’s not there he goes I know I know but I needed to know so that one actually is fairly easy and cut and dried it’s the other ones I don’t know that I’ve always culture’s changed right I don’t want to tell you all the stories like I had a guy play with crack ribs once and and then I think back why’d you let that happen right like you’re the guy but this is how much better the game is now I’m not the guy making that decision anymore really truly like anything above the shoulders anything it’s got nothing to do with me anything that’s even remotely concussion related and I don’t mess around with that and I don’t think any coach does truly we’ve seen players you know deal with it it was different 30 years ago it just was so the science is involved you get to know your players what their pain tolerance is what they can deal with and at the end of the day is he better than the 13th guy and then there is there is a moral line there as well I can play I can play I know you can but you’re not and you have to do that two more for Coach front left uh Paul what was it like what was the feeling driving to work this morning knowing you didn’t play your best game you got to it in the second and you’re still up one nothing that’s a so I had that went through that and um it it’s the same as almost everyone right what can you learn from the game is the most important thing you know where could you get better but you want to temper all of that when you sit down and watch your video cuz the other team gets paid too I got some pretty good players over there so if you just play your best game what does that look like they don’t touch the puck right like like our most we fight the extremes of this mentally as well you lose a game it’s not the end of the world you did some good things you win a game you’re not that good right don’t get that carried away with it that one’s kind of stuck in the mle I thought the first period was an anomaly I thought the second period I didn’t like because we we can be better in that push and then I liked our third so that was kind of my start starting point when I and that would have been the theme in the idea is there something systemic or thematic that we need to deal with the one-offs don’t matter um but if there’s a theme we got to deal with it and then what did we what would you like to replicate what can we do more of last question right side third bro yeah Paul I know you touched on it but just to expand uh my colleague Ryan Rashad calls it a nuclear option when when they decide to put the two guys together the same line and um do you guys communicate in that moment you know after the PK they’re going to do it and there’s other moments but you communicate or is it all I just stood in the Pres Scout how you guys are going to try to handle the next couple of shifts not just against them but then the shift after that we would know we we look a certain way coming off the bench off power plays and penalty go that’s easily found by the other team um there was a slight adjustment By Us in terms of minutes and to handle that specifically and and then it’s it’s there’s always a give and take for both teams put them two together it’s not bad um but then there’s not one of them on the other line that’s just great we can do the same thing and so at the end of the game we’ve got lcer and left wing with uh barov and reinard they’re pretty good at that but they’re also going to be short ofand so but I don’t run that all year you put it together in in the context that it comes they do we have plan for it everybody has a plan for it hasn’t worked right the numbers say it absolutely has not worked so you just hope you get enough minutes while it is

Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice speaks on his team’s off day on June 9 following Florida’s 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise.

The Panthers have a 1-0 lead in the series with Game 2 on Monday night at 8 p.m. (ABC)

Bobrovsky Carries Panthers to Game 1 Win: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-3-edmonton-oilers-0-game-1-stanley-cup-final-june-8-2024/

Florida Panthers Remember The Sting: https://floridahockeynow.com/florida-panthers-remember-the-sting-of-losing-stanley-cup-final/

Stanley Cup or Bust! Florida Panthers Moving On: https://floridahockeynow.com/stanley-cup-final-florida-panthers-2-new-york-rangers-1-game-6/

Meet the Edmonton Oilers: https://floridahockeynow.com/what-to-know-edmonton-oilers-stanley-cup-final-florida-panthers/

Panthers Have Unfinished Business to Take Care Of: https://floridahockeynow.com/not-finished-florida-panthers-hungry-to-complete-redemption-tour/

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The Panthers had a 1-0 lead in the first on a goal from Carter Verhaeghe and, thanks to 32 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky, that was enough.

Bobrovsky now has two shutouts this postseason.

Evan Rodrigues and Eetu Luostarinen also scored for the Panthers.
——

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Video Courtesy Florida Panthers