Veteran NHL Coach Paul Maurice Wins His First Title
Paul Maurice's Stats Feature Plenty of Wins and Now a Stanley Cup Title
Paul
Florida Panthers’ Dominance In One-Goal Games Results In Stanley Cup Title
Paul Maurice was happy to be removed from the list of being the winningest NHL coach never to win the Stanley Cup as the Florida Panthers edged the visiting Edmonton Oilers 2-1 in the seventh game to win the franchise’s first NHL title. Paul Maurice’s stats have him behind only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, and Barry Trotz on the list of coaches with the most regular-season wins.
After barely making the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023, the 2024 NHL standings had Florida finishing atop the Atlantic Division standings.
Maurice had the Panthers in the Stanley Cup Finals a season ago only to fall short to Bruce Cassidy’s Vegas Golden Knights.
- The NHL picks have Florida priced at +900 to win the Stanley Cup again in the 2024-25 season.
Paul Maurice Paid His Dues
Maurice’s playing career ended when he had one goal and four assists in 32 games with the Windsor Compuware Spitfires in the Ontario Hockey League during the 1987-88 season.
He stayed in Windsor as an assistant coach for the 1988-89 season at the age of 21. Maurice coached the Detroit Junior Red Wings to the OHL title during the 1994-95 season.
That earned Maurice a chance to be an NHL head coach with the Hartford Whalers. He remained with the franchise when they relocated to Carolina but with three playoff appearances in 8.5 seasons, he was fired.
In 2006, the Toronto Maple Leafs came calling and in 2008, the Hurricanes brought Maurice back.
His next NHL head coaching job came with the Winnipeg Jets when he led Winnipeg to four straight playoff appearances.
In 2022 came his big break when the Florida Panthers came calling. In his two seasons with the Panthers, Florida reached the Stanley Cup Finals both years.
“I’ve been chasing that for a while,” Maurice said during an on-ice interview after Game 7. “Some unkind words about how hard she was to catch.”
Maurice is 57 so he could be coaching in the NHL for a while. It might take some doing to catch Scotty Bowman for the most wins in NHL history but he could end up at No. 2 on that list.
Thanks to the Calgary Flames
Maurice is a well-respected coach with Paul Maurice’s stats backing that up but he also benefited from some smart personnel moves from the Florida front office.
The trade that brought Matthew Tkachuk from Calgary was a game-changer. He has 66 goals and 131 assists in 159 regular-season games with the Panthers. In 44 playoff games, Tkachuk has 17 goals and 29 assists.
While homegrown talents like Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, and Anton Lundell have been crucial for the Panthers, key contributors have also come over from other teams.
Sam Reinhart was traded to Florida from the Buffalo Sabres in 2021. Carter Verhaeghe won a Stanley Cup as a rookie with the Tampa Bay Lightning before heading to Florida and becoming one of the top clutch players in the playoffs with 23 goals in 53 playoff games over the last three seasons.
Sam Bennett was another former member of the Calgary Flames. Evan Rodrigues, who led the Panthers with four goals in the seven games against the Edmonton Oilers, is with his fourth franchise in the last five seasons.
The Panthers acquired defenseman Brandon Montour in the 2020-21 season from Buffalo. Arguably their most important move besides acquiring Tkachuk, they secured goalie Sergei Bobrovsky in 2019.
Panthers Claw Out Plenty of Wins
One of the most impressive of Paul Maurice’s stats had to be Florida going 7-0 in overtime games during its surprising run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Finals. That set the stage for what took place this year.
Florida finished 9-1-2 in one-goal games during this year’s playoffs.
The Panthers’ championship run was bolstered by the fact that 10 of their top 11 scorers from the 2023 playoffs returned this year.
When looking at the NHL scores, Verhaeghe led Florida with 11 goals in this year’s postseason while Barkov and Tkachuk were tied for the team lead with 22 points.
Eight different players had at least five goals in the playoffs. Edmonton’s strong playoff run, which ultimately ended in defeat, culminated in Connor McDavid becoming just the sixth player on a losing team to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP.
Bobrovsky was probably the top option from the Panthers but Edmonton outscoring Florida 18-5 while winning three straight elimination games ended that from happening.
It is hard to argue with McDavid leading the playoffs with 42 points with 11 of them coming in the seven games against the Panthers.
What’s Next For the Panthers?
The Panthers have a busy offseason ahead. Key players like Sam Reinhart, Vladimir Tarasenko, Brandon Montour, Dmitry Kulikov, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are all unrestricted free agents.
Anton Lundell is a restricted free agent and signing one of the younger stars for the Panthers is a priority.
There is some salary cap space to work with but it could go away pretty quickly when the Panthers try to keep the championship team together.
Beginning with the 1988-89 season, Scotty Bowman of the Detroit Red Wings, Mike Sullivan of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning are the only coaches to win back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
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