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Miami Herald
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Miami Herald
In their own words, Panthers explain their ‘utmost respect' for Paul Maurice
Paul Maurice does what he can to deflect the credit. As he leads the Florida Panthers on the most triumphant run in franchise history — three Stanley Cup Final appearances and back-to-back championships in his first three years at the helm — Maurice insists it's not primarily his doing. Any success the Panthers have should be directly toward the players. 'They do the real work,' Maurice said. 'We just drink coffee and swear.' But Maurice does so much more than that even if he doesn't want to admit it. He's the selfless leader with more than three decades of coaching experience. He's the wise coach who seems to know exactly what to say and when to say it and how to say it. He's the architect of the defensive structure that makes opponents hate to play against them and finally had Florida in position to thrive in the playoffs. And now, Maurice is a two-time Stanley Cup champion after going his entire career — which included stops with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes (twice), Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets before joining Florida — wondering if he'd ever win it once. He became just the third head coach the expansion era (since the 1967-68 season) to win multiple Stanley Cups in his first three seasons with a team, joining Pittsburgh's Mike Sullivan (2016 and 2017) and Los Angeles' Darryl Sutter (2012 and 2014). 'He really has control of this team,' said Panthers center Sam Bennett, who won the Conn Smythe as playoffs MVP after scoring 15 goals throughout the postseason and is a player Maurice regularly points out as the identity of the team. 'The team's really just bought into the culture that he's implemented into this team, and we're all willing to do whatever it takes and play that hard style that he keeps preaching to us night in and night out and we've all just bought into that over the years.' Why is that? Maurice says it starts with honesty and directness. 'If you walk into the room and you just tell the truth, whether they want to hear it or not but it's the truth, and over time you could look back and say, 'What that person told me was the truth,' you'll have respect for that,' said Maurice, who signed a five-year contract extension early in the season to remain as the team's head coach. 'So, I work hard at trying to find the truth every day and then just telling it as simply as I can with the occasional joke slipped in. Most times I'm the only one that thinks it's funny.' And through it all, through the turnaround (both for himself and the franchise) and through the winning, Maurice has remained wholly himself. 'I don't think he's changed since winning,' Bennett said. 'He's the same. He can be hard on us. He's hard on us when he needs to be, and then he's relaxed with us when he knows that we need to, so I think he really does have a good feel for what our team needs. We all have the utmost respect for him.' That's clear based on almost anyone you talk to. In their own words, here's what various members of the Panthers organization had to say about Maurice: ▪ Star winger Matthew Tkachuk: '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. His speeches and his ability to get us to run through a wall each and every game is a big gift. '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. 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.' ▪ President of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito: 'He's a very bright man. He's a teacher. He's a coach. He'll push, he'll pull, he'll harp. But you don't want to disappoint him. His character is so high that, working with him, he makes you want to be better because you don't want to disappoint him.' ▪ Defenseman Seth Jones, who joined the Panthers at the trade deadline in March: 'He doesn't change at all. I think ever since the first day I came in here, the first meeting I had with him, he was very direct. He knows what he wants you to do. He gives you your role. He knows how the team plays, how he wants you to play, your strengths, your weaknesses and so on. So he's great in front of the team. Knows when to keep it light, when to joke around, when to be serious. He's got a great temperature on the room, and in the playoffs, we're a team that we don't dwell on wins, we don't dwell on losses we live in the moment game by game, and he does a great job of that. It's always moving forward. It's always how can we get better? And that's really the main thing, and the impressive thing. 'It's different than what I've had. 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.' ▪ Forward Carter Verhaeghe: 'He's one of a kind. We see his sense of humor with you guys and everything like that, and he kind of has the same sense of humor with us. He keeps everything light, but makes you want to work; and for the right reasons, for each other. At any given time, he knows what the group needs, whether it's a clip of [Niko Mikkola] doing something on the ice on video or something like that. So it keeps us loose and focused at the same time, which is good.' ▪ Panthers president and CEO Matt Caldwell: 'Paul is obviously an absolute professional, well respected, inspirational leader. He's got a great working relationship with Bill Zito. The three of us have a great, great relationship, and obviously the team success has been phenomenal, but the culture that's been built, you can tell how much the players love playing for him. Sam Bennett was just recently talking about how much the players respect their coach, and appreciate this destination franchise that we have. I've learned a lot while watching him. 'He's got a very cool, calm demeanor. He sticks to his process. He communicates really well. He doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low. He's a great teacher, but I just think his ability — you could see from the team, like we're a very resilient team, and we respond to anything that happens on and off the ice. Watching him, he knows when he's got to keep people accountable. He knows when he has to correct people, but he also knows when he's got to be patient and communicate and teach more. So just his balance of managing all the emotions of the game and the long season is very inspirational to watch.' ▪ Defenseman Gustav Forsling: 'He's got a great hockey mind, but he's very smart and he sees the game very well. Just a great guy overall. He's a great human being. That's one thing that really stood out to me, how good of a human he is and that he really cares.' ▪ Forward Brad Marchand: 'He's very good at getting his messaging across, relaying what style of game that we need to play. He does a great job at making changes throughout series and throughout games and then just the way he makes you feel the passion that he obviously has. He's just one of those people that knows how to bring the best out of every player.' ▪ Defenseman Nate Schmidt, who briefly played for Maurice in Winnipeg: 'They give you a blueprint of how he wants you to play, and he molds that around your strengths as a player and he doesn't ask you to do more than what you should be doing. It's not the easiest system just to jump into, but he expects a certain level out of each guy and if you give that to him, there's no problem. And that's something that I find it was freeing for me, and once you kind of settle into how he wants you to play and into what kind of role he wants you to be in, it takes a lot of the pressure off.'
Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Panthers GM Drops Hint About Offseason After Stanley Cup Win
Panthers GM Drops Hint About Offseason After Stanley Cup Win originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Florida Panthers are the two-time Stanley Cup champions after dispatching the Edmonton Oilers for the second year in a row. Florida took down Edmonton in six games this season, finishing off another impressive playoff run. Advertisement But as the Panthers enter the offseason, the team has a few key players entering free agency. Guys such as Brad Marchand, Sam Bennett, and Aaron Ekblad are all scheduled to be free agents. Nobody knows what will take place once free agency starts, but this team has shown it can allow anyone to enter the organization. Florida has been the standard of success over the last few years, and everything starts with the leadership at the top. When asked about how the team looks for players with the uncertainty of the offseason coming up, Panthers general manager Bill Zito didn't hold back. "We've reached a point, almost, where the room can accept almost anybody, and they pull all the good qualities out of that person. And I think it's because it starts with Paul Maurice and the leadership in the room. Fail, it's okay to fail so come in and be yourself because you're gonna screw up, we don't really care. We all screw up, all the time but we have a lot of really good players around us who help us when we do. I think that puts people at ease, and I think it's easy to fit in," Zito said. Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) hoists the Stanley Cup after winning game six of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers at Amerant Bank Navarro-Imagn Images The Panthers have built a sustained winner on the ice, and it has shown in how they approach the games. Every team wants to be like the Panthers, and they are at the top of the mountain again. Advertisement As the offseason gets going, there will be questions for the team to answer. But this organization has shown that it can overcome whatever is put in its way. Related: Panthers May Have Dented Stanley Cup After Win Over Oilers Related: 6-Time All-Star Seen With Panthers Following Stanley Cup Win This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
CTV News
2 days ago
- Sport
- CTV News
Windsorite Aaron Ekblad wins Stanley Cup as Edmonton Oilers fail to get over the hump
Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad raises the Stanley Cup trophy after defeating the Edmonton Oilers, Monday, June 24, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla. The Panthers defeated the Oilers 2-1. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) Wednesday's grey skies matched the mood of many Canadian hockey fans after hockey's holy grail was won and will stay in Florida. The Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-1 to claim the Stanley Cup in six games. 'I was pretty upset about the loss, but I was very happy with his (Florida defenceman and Windsorite Aaron Ekblad) individual success and he's making Windsor proud.' Ekblad is a Stanley Cup champion for the second straight year. He told CTV News his brother couldn't be in Florida for Game 7 last June so winning with his brother in attendance was special. 'He's a special human and a special person and just to have him there was a pretty awesome for me,' he said. Florida head coach and former Windsor Spitfire Paul Maurice thought his veterans allowing the first-year guys to skate with the cup after captain Alexander Barkov was awesome. 'The awareness of each other. All those guys who touched it first, it was their first cup. So, that's what makes these men special.' Maurice said after the game. Ekblad received the cup from Dmitri Kulikov, in what he describes as a special moment. 'An awesome father. awesome friend, teammate, just somebody I really respect,' said Ekblad. Florida became the third team in the salary cap era to repeat as champs following Tampa Bay in 2020-21 and Pittsburgh in 2016-17. 'Probably one of the hardest things or the hardest trophy in sports to win so winning it once is an incredible achievement, but winning it twice and back-to-back, it's almost impossible,' said Tom Khunhackl, a former Windsor Spitfire. Khunhackl won back-to-back with the Penguins and relived his experience while watching Tuesday's cup clincher. 'Fortunate enough to be in an organization with the Pittsburgh Penguins and then winning the Stanley Cup back-to-back is something you obviously never forget, and I still think about it thinking it's a dream,' he said. Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk feels the Panthers are a dynasty, having made it to three straight cup finals. Edmonton has now made two straight appearances, without a win, but former Oiler Zack Kassian doesn't feel Edmonton's window of opportunity has closed. 'Obviously there's a lot of hard work and a long road ahead, but if there's a team that can do it, Edmonton is one of them and I don't think it's too farfetched, because if you look at the Florida Panthers, they just did it,' Kassian said. While it's too early to talk about bringing the Stanley Cup back here to Essex County, Lakeshore Mayor Tracy Bailey does say that she looks forward to speaking to the Ekblad family to perhaps make that happen in Lakeshore a second year in a row.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Stanley Cup: Paul Maurice believes Panthers channeled playoff disappointments in OT win at Oilers
Add experience to Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice's list of things he is not a big believer in, but not quite to the extent of how he feels about momentum. After watching how his team handled the disappointment of relinquishing the lead in against the Edmonton Oilers with less than 18 seconds remaining in regulation in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, and having to regroup for an overtime that could have meant falling behind 0-2, Maurice put a condition on his thoughts. Advertisement "I'm not a huge believer in experience unless you talk about it, unless you draw on it," Maurice said the morning after the Panthers' 5-4 double-overtime victory that evened the series at 1 as it heads to South Florida for Game 3. "But there's a truth to that. We've had some tough ones, the three years of playoffs these men have been through you're going to have some tough nights, you're going to have some games get away." Florida Panthers center Brad Marchand (63) reacts after making the game winning goal against the Edmonton Oilers during double overtime in game two of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. Maurice referenced the 2024 Cup Final. After taking a 3-0 lead over the Oilers, Florida was manhandled in Game 4, losing 8-1, and two games later lost 5-1 as Edmonton forced a Game 7. Advertisement But the Panthers rebounded from three straight losses and were steady in a 2-1 Game 7 win at home resulting in their first championship. Maurice believes that experience showed when the Panthers recovered from the Oilers late goal, and fought through an inconsistent first overtime period, which then allowed them to come out strong in the second OT, which ended at 8:05 on Brad Marchand's breakaway goal. "I didn't love the first period of our overtime, I thought we got better as it built," he said. "But careful about critiquing that because it's a tough way to get to overtime with 17 seconds (to play in regulation). That's tough. "So they held in period four and I do think having enough veteran guys who have been kicked enough times that they understand what that feels like and then they can come out and they settle." Advertisement Forward Matthew Tkachuk describing the mood between the end of regulation and start of overtime in Game 2 shows a team that was drawing on those experiences. "It was the opposite of what you guys probably thought was going on in the locker room,' he said. "We were upbeat, joking around, picking guys who we thought were going to score. We were having some fun." The win was Florida's ninth on the road in the 2025 postseason, one shy of the record held by six teams. Paul Maurice reveals how he came close to getting a tattoo Maurice was asked about the Panthers popularity in the Hispanic community, which is partly illustrated by the number of shirts worn by fans that read 'Vamos Gatos' (Let's Go Cats), when he told a story about the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. Advertisement Maurice promised if the Panthers beat the Vegas Golden Knights he would get a 'Vamos Gatos' tattoo. The Panthers lost in five games. "That's kind of almost a silver lining of us losing to Vegas, that would have been painful," Maurice joked. Maurice continued about how unique it is to coach an NHL team in South Florida. "There's this connection here in South Florida that is different because it is non- traditional," Maurice said. "Where it's great is when you get families involved." Maurice lives close to the Panthers facility in Fort Lauderdale and often walks to practice. He loves seeing the kids carrying their hockey bags into the facility, which is public. Advertisement "It's a cross section of different people, different families, different communities," he said. "It's fantastic. I'm glad that we can share our game with everybody and it's wonderful to see and I didn't have to get a tattoo to do it." Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@ This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Stanley Cup Final: Florida Panthers' Paul Maurice talks overtime win at Edmonton
CBS News
2 days ago
- Sport
- CBS News
Appreciation: Florida Panthers set their own path to a 2nd consecutive Stanley Cup
The best team in hockey, again, was a team that did things totally its own way. The Florida Panthers went to Finland early in the season and wore their gifts from that trip — plush robes, a nod to the sauna culture there — to the next few games instead of suits and didn't care how ridiculous that looked. They blared Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" in the locker room after wins for reasons that nobody fully understood. They not only welcomed a one-time hated rival in Brad Marchand into the fold from Boston at the trade deadline, but they became Blizzard-eating buddies with him on off days during the playoffs. Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) and teammates celebrate after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final in Sunrise, Fla., Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) Nathan Denette / AP "This team," forward Matthew Tkachuk said at one point this season, shaking his head, "is special." "Different," was the word forward Evan Rodrigues used. "They are something else," coach Paul Maurice said. Call them whatever you want. But you have to call them back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, an absolutely absurd development for a franchise that spent most of its first three decades unable to win anything but now simply cannot lose. Final score: Panthers 5, Edmonton 1. Final score of the series: Panthers 4, Oilers 2. The result: Another Cup, and a team that won't be forgotten. "It's incredible. It's a feeling you can't really describe," Marchand said. "Seeing the family and everyone up there and everyone that supported me and helped me get to this point, words can't put this into reality how great it feels. Such an incredible group." South Florida was a football town when the Miami Dolphins reigned 50 years ago, then became a basketball town when the Miami Heat started winning championships, and it's always been a baseball town because of the area's strong Latino culture. But now, it's a hockey town. The Panthers never had any doubt that they would repeat as Stanley Cup champions. They didn't care what the regular season results were, nor did they care about their seeding, nor did they care that they were going to have to start every playoff series on the road and probably had the most difficult of all possible paths: in-state rival Tampa Bay in Round 1, a now-or-never Toronto team in Round 2, a tough-as-nails Carolina team for the Eastern Conference title, and after all that, Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers were waiting to avenge their loss in last year's Stanley Cup Final. The Lightning were overmatched. The Maple Leafs wore down. The Hurricanes couldn't keep up. And the Oilers, after a year of studying, had even fewer answers for the big test. "We've got to be a dynasty now," Tkachuk said. "It's three years in a row, finals, two championships. This team is so special. Stanley Cup champion. This never gets old." Everything changed for Florida in July 2022 when general manager Bill Zito shocked everybody by swinging a trade with Calgary for Tkachuk. They went to the final in 2023 and got rolled by Vegas. Back to the final they went in 2024, nearly blowing a 3-0 lead before beating Edmonton for the franchise's first title. This season, there were injuries and suspensions and trades to deal with. But there was no doubt. Maurice said all that mattered was getting into the playoffs healthy. He was right. Tkachuk came back despite a torn adductor in time for Game 1 of the playoffs. Aaron Ekblad was back from a 20-game suspension for taking a banned substance in time for Game 3 of Round 1. The Panthers kept getting stronger and stronger, all the way to the end. Florida Panthers defenseman Nate Schmidt (88) celebrates with his family after wining the Stanley Cup in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. Lynne Sladky / AP They have a player in captain Aleksander Barkov who rarely says anything, just leads by example. They have a goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky who never takes credit for wins, and whose many quirks include not getting any haircuts during the season. They have a coach in Maurice whose claims to fame include overzealous coffee consumption and copious swearing. They did not care who got the credit for anything, because it was a team built for just one thing — winning the Cup, something that required everyone on the roster to do something big at the right time. That's exactly what happened. And when the Cup was awarded to Barkov, who accepted it as captain, he didn't hand it to Marchand or Tkachuk or Bobrovsky or playoffs MVP Sam Bennett. He handed it to Nate Schmidt, because Schmidt — who paid for all those Blizzards, by the way — hadn't won a Cup before. And Schmidt handed it to another first-timer, Seth Jones, another late-season trade addition. And so on, and so on, and so on. The last on-ice act of the season was the epitome of what sort of team it was. Backup goalie Vitek Vanecek got to hoist it before most of the regulars; Vanecek, it should be noted, didn't play one second in these playoffs, and the Panthers could not have cared less. He was part of it. He earned his lap with the Cup. "These men just love one another," Maurice said. "That's the only way to explain it." There's a parade in a few days, and then free agency is coming. Bennett could be moving on. Marchand might not stay. Ekblad's future is the source of speculation. The salary cap is the salary cap and everybody can't be kept. But it sounds like Florida will try to keep as much of this team together as possible. "We're going to enjoy this together," Bobrovsky said. "And then, we'll go back to work."
