Latest news with #Hockey
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Florida coach Paul Maurice has Panthers back in Cup final, fueled by his mix of laughs and hard work
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, center, rear, talks with players during the third period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice gestures during the second period in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice watches as the players celebrate at the conclusion of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. The Panthers team defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. (AP Photo/Chris Seward) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice reacts during the third period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, Monday, May 26, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice reacts during the third period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, Monday, May 26, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice, center, rear, talks with players during the third period in Game 6 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice gestures during the second period in Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice watches as the players celebrate at the conclusion of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in Raleigh, N.C. The Panthers team defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. (AP Photo/Chris Seward) Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice reacts during the third period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Eastern Conference finals against the Carolina Hurricanes, Monday, May 26, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Paul Maurice keeps the day-to-day routine simple. Show up for work early and have copious amounts of coffee. Trust assistant coaches to do their jobs. Sit in on meetings when needed. Hammer home a consistent message with players. Swear a little bit sometimes, swear profusely at other times. Hey, it works. Advertisement In the Stanley Cup Final for a third consecutive season with the Panthers, Maurice's style — laugh-out-loud funny at times, incredibly smart and serious at others — continues to deliver results for Florida. He was 41-51 in his playoff career before coming to Florida; he's 41-21 in his playoff career with Florida. A coaching lifer, he already was well-respected within the game before the Panthers brought him aboard, but he never had anything close to a run like this until now. 'I'm not being disrespectful to the other teams I've coached," Maurice said. 'The team here, this is the best team I've ever coached. It's not really that close.' Winners of the Stanley Cup last season, the Panthers will try for back-to-back titles starting Wednesday night when they visit Edmonton for Game 1 of a rematch. Florida beat the Oilers last year in seven games for Maurice's first Cup in a 30-year career. 'Oh, I'll never get tired of hearing that,' Maurice said. Advertisement It's a hilarious game of tug-of-war that Maurice and the Panthers players are engaged in these days. Players don't want to be showered in praise for making a third consecutive Cup final; the coach insists that it's all about them and that he just pushes a few buttons here and there. The truth is that there's more than enough credit to go around. '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," forward Matthew Tkachuk said. '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, however. Maurice thinks it's critically important to have the ability to go into the locker room, say exactly what needs to be said and depart without saying anything more or anything less. He's not afraid to tell his players that they're playing poorly. He's not afraid to tell his players that he loves them, either. Advertisement He's also not afraid to make himself the butt of the joke. Florida was a 122-point, President's Trophy-winning team the season before Maurice arrived. The Panthers managed 92 points in Year 1 of his era. 'Coaching,' he quipped. The 30-point drop was in large part to the adjustment made by a stylistic change, and that change led them to the Cup final, but Maurice never misses a chance to make fun of how he turned a 122-point club into a 92-point club overnight. Panthers defenseman Seth Jones came to Florida around the trade deadline this season. He had a lot of learning to do — new systems, new expectations, new teammates, all of that. He also had to learn how to get coached differently, which he quickly realized wasn't a bad thing. 'It's different than what I've had," Jones said of Maurice's style. '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.' Advertisement That, the Panthers have learned, is critical. Consider how the title series went last season. The Panthers won the first three games and were on the brink of the Cup. Then they lost Game 4. And Game 5. And Game 6. The brink of the Cup became the brink of a collapse, real fast. Maurice started talking to his players about freedom and playing with that feeling. Game 7 was flawless. The Panthers won, and at the parade about a week later, Maurice ended his rain-soaked, highly profane remarks by throwing his arms into the air and yelling 'Freedom!' at the top of his lungs to his team. '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 said. '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.' ___ AP NHL playoffs: and
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Southern Miss baseball coach Christian Ostrander talks Golden Eagles' win streak
A Fitting Finale? Oilers Corey Perry Eyes Cup No. 2 To Cap Off Hall Of Fame Career As the third-oldest player in the NHL, Edmonton Oilers right winger Corey Perry is playing on borrowed time. He just turned 40 years old – only Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Brent Burns and St. Louis Blues defenseman Ryan Suter are older – and Perry has said he wants to play until he's 45. But like any player who's played 20 seasons in hockey's top league, Perry will eventually have to come to terms with the fact his NHL days are just about done. 2:51 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
NHL Rumor Roundup: The Latest Islanders And Jets Speculation
Brad Treliving Explains Auston Matthews' Injury Management And Why He's Not Concerned About The Maple Leafs Star's Health Next Season Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving met with reporters Thursday morning for his end-of-season media availability, where one of the key topics of discussion was centered on star forward Auston Matthews – and the injury that plagued the star forward all season long.
Edmonton Journal
7 hours ago
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
Edmonton Oilers have more resolve in Cup rematch with Florida: Ken Hitchcock
Article content As the fourth winningest coach in NHL history, Ken Hitchcock has a pretty good feel for hockey teams and what he sees from the Edmonton Oilers through this 16-game run to the Stanley Cup final against Florida is more resolve in their style of play. Article content They took the Panthers to Game 7 last June but Hitchcock sees a better Oilers today. 'They have learned a very valuable lesson, one that takes a long time to learn,' said the Hall of Famer Hitchcock, whose last coaching job was with his hometown team. 'You can talk about it but what the Oilers have learned is there's a big difference between fighting for space and looking for space. Article content 'The Edmonton Oilers now fight for that space as good as anybody in the National Hockey League. They're not looking for quick areas, they're not hoping pucks squirt free. They're fighting for that space and that's why they're going to be such a hard out in this final,' said Hitchcock, who coached defenceman John Klingberg in Dallas and had fellow blueliner Jake Walman when both were in St. Louis, so he has an attachment to the Oilers apart from growing up here. Worm vs. the rat Hitchcock greatly admires both Corey (the Worm) Perry and Brad (the Rat) Marchand and is keen to see the two villains in the finals. 'Perry's got it (greasiness) naturally. He's just that type of player. Corey has a presence and he plays to that presence whereas Marchand can impact games in numerous areas. He seems to make the right play at the right time, get the big goal, make the right assist,' said Hitchcock. Article content 'They're both exceptional players getting on in years, guys who still make an impact on a game in a major way. Perry was never the quickest player but what's impressed me about him is he hasn't gotten slower, at all. Boy, he brings a lot to the table. He's an honest competitor. Marchand is a small guy who plays like a big player,' he said. Marchand, 37, is chattier on the ice than the oftimes laconic Perry, 40. 'As an opposition coach, Marchand can really make you laugh. I know he got on me a few times. Yeah, it was pretty funny,' said Hitchcock. Marchand's sense of humour has been on display in Florida as fans throw all the plastic rats on the ice at game's end — their tradition since Scott Mellanby killed a real rodent in the dressing room at Florida's home opener in 1995, and Mellanby went out and scored three goals which brought out the 'rat-trick' line. Article content Article content Now? 'They just see all my family out there on the ice and want us to be together,' kidded Marchant in a recent story. Another ex-Oiler in Hockey Hall of Fame Daryl Reaugh, once the Oilers second-round draft pick in 1984 and back-up in net to Grant Fuhr, was just voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the broadcast wing after his 30 years in the business in Dallas — as a colour commentator and a TV play-by-play man. 'I was shocked when I got the call, incredible honour,' said the rapier-witted Reaugh, 60, who was always the life of the party here, once being the master of ceremonies at the Oiler Christmas get-together and doing bang-on imitations. 'He humoured those (junior) bus rides like you couldn't believe… you should see the ones (imitations) he did of me, make you cry and laugh. He was hard on me, in a good way,' said Hitchcock, who had Reaugh as his goalie in junior in Kamloops. Article content Reaugh, who finished playing in the 1993-94 season, was the first ex NHLer doing play-by-play when he replaced Dave Strader on the Stars broadcast with the Hall of Famer Strader fighting bile-duct cancer. Reaugh says he greatly appreciated listening to Oilers' Hall of Fame radio voice Rod Phillips when he was part of the Oiler organization. 'I loved Rod from my Oiler days. I loved the way he called a game. Rockin' Rod. He was very passionate,' said Reaugh, who was working the Dallas-Edmonton playoff series as a colour commentator with play caller Josh Bogorad 'Daryl was at every pre-game skate, he would find new words in the dictionary or the thesaurus. He didn't just ask the question of what you were doing (as a coach) but why you were doing it,' said Hitchcock, from his days behind the Dallas bench. 'He had a tremendous work ethic from playing and competing and he transferred it into broadcasting.' Article content Reaugh played 27 NHL games and would have played longer but the injury bug kept biting him. He last was in a hockey net in the East Coast Hockey League in Dayton when he was 28 and gave play-by-play a first-time whirl there. 'As a player Daryl ran into some significant injuries…I remember we had him in Kalamazoo (Dallas farm team) at a training camp when he was a free-agent and he was the best goalie by a mile. We were looking to sign him but a day later he got injured and couldn't play forever. He made up for it as a broadcaster. I'm so happy for him (Hall of Fame honour). He's worked his butt off,' said the Hall of Fame builder Hitchcock. Handshakes after series ends Count Hitchcock in the same group as Florida's Paul Maurice who doesn't like coaches standing in a handshake line on the ice with players when the battles end. 'I probably changed (his view) five or six years ago. The ice surface is where the players bleed and sacrifice for each other. It's their surface,' said Hitchcock. Article content 'I looked at other sports and none of them line up with players. It's just coach on coach. I know I got hassled for it once (opposing hockey coach) but I didn't care. The other coach can do what he wants (handshake line or not) but my competition is the coach.' Hitchcock hasn't liked what he's seen from coaches in the locker room, either. 'What bothered me more than anything,' said Hitchcock, who coached 1,598 NHL games, 'is I think the coaches were becoming too dominant. The locker room is for the players first and foremost. We can stick our head in there but when I see coaches handing out pucks (post-game) or awards or making speeches… the players don't get any time for themselves. You have to turn it over to the players at a certain stage. I feel pretty strongly about this.' How icy is the goalie-coach relationship in heat of Dallas? Needless to say, Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger wasn't happy after coach Pete DeBoer gave him the hook following Oiler goals on the first two shots of Game 5. One was off a 10-footer by Perry on a powerplay when all alone in front of the net. The other was a partial breakaway by Mattias Janmark. Article content 'It sucks, it's embarrassing. Anytime you get pulled, it doesn't matter if it's the playoffs or regular season, you just want to go right off the ice and crawl in your bed and not talk to anyone,' Oettinger told the Dallas media Saturday, with the veteran head coach and his star goalie not yet speaking of the Thursday yank. This 'n that That Darnell Nurse slash on Roope Hintz in Game 2 of the Stars' series broke a bone in the Dallas centre's foot. It wasn't much of a whack but it appeared to catch him on the laces. Hintz missed Game 3 but played the last two and was skating hard enough in Game 5 to almost chase down Connor McDavid on his breakaway. Things to watch out for in the Florida-Oiler series: four of defenceman Nikko Mikkola's 21 career goals have come against the Oilers. The Panthers might not have fourth-line forward A.J. Greer when the series starts. He was hurt in Game 5 against Carolina. But valuable third-liner Eetu Luostarinen, also banged up when he crashed into the boards, should be ready. Article content Latest National Stories
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Maple Leafs Coach Heaps Big Praise Upon Rising Flyers Prospect
Maple Leafs Coach Heaps Big Praise Upon Rising Flyers Prospect Toronto Maple Leafs head coach and former Philadelphia Flyers bench boss Craig Berube likes what he's seen from Nikita Grebenkin, one of his old players. And he knows there's room for plenty more as Grebenkin embarks on the next chapter of his NHL career with the Flyers. 0:52 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
