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Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Panthers Coach Paul Maurice Building Strong Coaching Legacy, Despite No Jack Adams Recognition
This weekend, Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery won the 2024-25 Jack Adams Award as the NHL's best bench boss. But while Carbery certainly deserved the honor, his win meant another year has passed without one of the sport's very best coaches winning the Jack Adams. And that man is Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice. In a business with job turnover that has only increased in recent years, Maurice's NHL longevity is something to behold. The 58-year-old's first year as an NHL coach came in 1995-96, and since then, Maurice has coached an astonishing 27 seasons. He has coached 1,931 regular-season games in his stints with the Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets and the Panthers – and only coaching icon Scotty Bowman has coached more games (2,141). That means, barring some unexpected move or retirement, Maurice is going to break Bowman's record in the next three seasons. And yet, he's still looking for his first Jack Adams Award. Advertisement To this writer, that's more than a little ridiculous. It's true the Jack Adams isn't a lifetime achievement award, but Maurice has guided his teams to 12 playoff appearances, and he steered them to a first-or-second-place finish in their division on five different occasions. This is the hallmark of a coach who isn't some flash-in-the-pan. This is the sign of an expert coach who can change organizations multiple times and get solid results. And after last year, Maurice finally has his Stanley Cup, guaranteeing him a spot in the Hockey Hall of Fame when he does choose to retire. Another Cup win by the Panthers this year would only underscore Maurice's legacy, but even if Florida does lose to the Edmonton Oilers in the next couple weeks, Maurice's performance can't be torn down by anyone. In an era where consecutive Cup-winners are few and far-between, he's delivered as much glory as anyone could've hoped for. At some point, Jack Adams voters have to acknowledge the job Maurice continues to do. It's safe and easy to give the coach of the year award to coaches who take a mediocre team one year and lead them to an elite finish the next year, but on some basic level, a coach's job is to steer his team through the muck of the regular-season and have them peaking by the time the playoffs arrive. And in the past three years in particular, Maurice has done exactly that, getting the Panthers to the point where they can dominate in each of the past three post-seasons. Now, coaches definitely need assistance from their GM as far as giving them great talent to utilize, and coaches also need top performances from their players at crucial times. But many teams have had those elements in their favor, and yet none of them have had the success Maurice's Panthers have had of late. He's pushed all the right buttons, made all the right on-ice and off-ice decisions, and he's now made it to three-straight Cup finals, with the distinct possibility of winning two of them. That is a remarkable feat, and sooner rather than later, Jack Adams voters need to give Maurice his accolades. Paul Maurice (Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images) When Maurice does break Bowman's record for games-coached, it will be the coaching equivalent of Wayne Gretzky's all-time points mark. Unless a coach begins his NHL days in his twenties as Maurice did, and unless he can build on that early start with more than a quarter-century of surviving in the shark-infested waters of constant coach turnover, no one is going to seriously challenge Maurice for top spot in that regard. Advertisement So while we can all congratulate Carbery on a job well done, we should also be clamoring for Maurice to get his own props one of these years. Only one person in the history of hockey has done it for longer than Maurice, and he's ascended to the echelon few will ever reach. If Maurice goes his entire lifetime without a Jack Adams, it will be more of a comment on the errors made by Jack Adams voters than it will be about Maurice's talent. He's done it all, he's a legend-still-in-the-making, and he's got a lot of time left to add to his first-rate resume. Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on
USA Today
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Connor McDavid deflects eerie Stanley Cup 'parallels' to Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky
Connor McDavid deflects eerie Stanley Cup 'parallels' to Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky "We know what the routine is." Kris Knoblauch on what's different between last year's Stanley Cup Final and this year's. — Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 3, 2025 Wayne Gretzky's walk past the New York Islander's locker room after getting swept in the 1983 Stanley Cup Final has become a key piece of hockey lore. Expecting to see the Islanders' dynasty celebrating their fourth straight championship, The Great One instead found the Cup-winners hunched over with ice packs while trying to recover. Gretzky has long credited this moment with clarifying the sacrifice required to win a title. The following year, in 1984, the Oilers defeated the Islanders in five games to win the Cup. A generation later in 2008, Sidney Crosby found himself on the losing end of a six-game Stanley Cup Final series to the dynastic Detroit Red Wings. The heir apparent to Gretzky's throne came back a year later and won his first Stanley Cup by beating Detroit in seven games. Sound familiar? Connor McDavid doesn't necessarily agree — even though he finds himself in the exact same position as two of the sport's legends. As he prepares to face a Florida Panthers team in the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year, the Oilers captain and three-time Hart Trophy winner said he isn't paying attention to the natural comparisons. "I see, obviously, the parallels that everyone wants to write about," McDavid said Tuesday. "At the end of the day, this is a different story. Different teams, different group. Just excited to have another kick at the can here. That's all." True, these Oilers and Panthers teams are a bit different compared to last year, but nothing has changed regarding the expectations for McDavid. Long considered the best offensive talent in the game, McDavid's legacy won't be completely written if he loses this Final rematch. But he could secure his status among the sport's best by winning it. There's no shame in losing your first Stanley Cup Final. Just ask Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby. But it's what they did after that turned those losses into lore.
New York Times
07-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
NHL trade grades: Penguins, Kraken soak up sellers' market in 2 deals with Jets
The Athletic has live coverage of the 2025 NHL trade deadline. Winnipeg Jets get: Defenseman Luke Schenn Pittsburgh Penguins get: 2026 second-round draft pick, 2027 fourth-round draft pick Winnipeg Jets get: Forward Brandon Tanev Seattle Kraken get: 2027 second-round draft pick James Mirtle: I had a front-row (press box) seat when the Maple Leafs acquired Luke Schenn at the trade deadline two years ago for a third-round pick. At the time, it felt like he would be simply a bit part, depth addition to a contending Toronto team. Instead, he stepped into a top-four role alongside Morgan Rielly and was one of the Leafs best players as they finally made it out of the first round of the playoffs. Advertisement And Toronto tried to bring him back in the offseason, only to get outbid on the generous three-year deal Schenn landed in Nashville. Schenn, 35, is two years older than that postseason with the Leafs, and what he brings isn't flashy. But he also won't be expected to do as much with the Jets, filling primarily a third-pair slot and PK duties. His game is a perfect fit for the postseason and this team, given he brings size and physicality, not to mention the experience of two deep Stanley Cup runs with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021. And his underrated ability to make a nice, no-nonsense play to break out of his zone has been a big part of his late-career resurgence over the past few years. The only downside for the Jets is they didn't get any of the deal retained, as $2.75 million is a hair high to pay for another year beyond this one. Credit to the Penguins, meanwhile, for flipping Schenn for a better pick outlay than what the Canucks got for him two years ago. I'm less bullish on the Tanev addition if only because the Jets really could have used a higher level add up front. They were in hard on some of the bigger fish, such as Brock Nelson, and Tanev is certainly not that. What he is, however, is an incredibly hard worker who brings a strong checking game and elite penalty killing – something the Jets need to upgrade given they sit 15th. His underlying numbers at even strength have taken a dip as he's aged, but some of that has been the challenging environment in Seattle the past few seasons. Tanev started his career in Winnipeg and was part of their big playoff run in 2018, so the fit in that respect should be seamless. And it feels possible this turns into more than just a rental situation, too, which would boost this grade. Jets grade: B Penguins grade: A- Kraken grade: A- Sean Gentille: Way back on Wednesday night, when the Penguins acquired Tommy Novak from Nashville for Michael Bunting, Luke Schenn's involvement in the deal screamed 'quick flip.' Advertisement Contenders will always make room for big, tough, high-character Cup-winners. The Penguins, as they've laid plain over the last few months, are no contender. And for as much as Kyle Dubas gassed up Schenn in a round of post-trade emails with Pittsburgh media, smart money should've always been on Schenn winding up somewhere else. '(We) feel that having Luke's defensive play, character, leadership, toughness and spirit is something we need here to help push our program through this phase and preserve our culture and standards as we work to return to contention,' Dubas said. They'll miss out on that, it seems, while adding two draft picks to their cache. Dubas, should he desire, can now select 10 players in the first round of the next three drafts. This market favors sellers, and he's taking full advantage. Schenn, meanwhile, re-surfaces on one of the best teams in the league. The Jets got themselves a physical right-shot defenseman who can kill penalties and clear the net-front. In a vacuum, that's fine — it's certainly a player profile that they can use. Given how the Western Conference is shaping up, he should help the Jets along the way. Still, they need to be careful about how much they put on Schenn's plate. He's 35 years old now and was never going to win any foot races in the first place. You could say something similar about Tanev. He can still skate and still seems like a player who can be a factor over the course of a playoff run, but his overall game has dipped over the past two years. Seattle's defensive numbers are worse with him on the ice. I'm not sure that's how Winnipeg, in a perfect world, would've spent a second-round pick, though the state of the market might say otherwise. If this is what it takes for a true Cup contender to get better, what other choice do they have? Jets grade: C- Penguins grade: A Kraken grade: A (Photos: Ethan Miller and Alika Jenner / Getty Images)
