During a lifetime of hockey experiences, Paul Maurice rarely runs into something he either hasn’t seen before or simply stops him in his tracks.
But after touching down to the deep freeze that all Manitobans are currently experiencing, the former head coach of the Winnipeg Jets hustled over to Hockey For All Centre to witness something that gave him great joy.
Behind the bench of the St. Mary’s Academy Flames stood his daughter, Sydney, who is a coach with the Manitoba Women’s High School Hockey League team that is tied for top spot in the Division 1-2 West standings.
JOHN MCDONNELL / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said the first thing he did when his plane touched down in Winnipeg was watch his daughter, Sydney, coach a St. Mary’s Academy Flames game.
Coming back to the place where he resurrected his NHL coaching career is always special for Maurice, but adding a proud dad moment was something that had him bursting with pride and grinning from ear to ear.
“Oh, all of it,” said Maurice, when asked what he enjoyed most about returning to Canada Life Centre before his Florida Panthers faced the Jets on Thursday night. “There are just little flashes of memories.”
What followed was Maurice’s description of what he got to personally experience on Wednesday, when timing was everything and the schedules lined up for him to get to see his daughter in action.
Watching the game was special in its own way, but it was the interaction that followed the final buzzer that Maurice relished even more.
“She coached a game (Wednesday) night, so there was a little special joy there for me,” said Maurice. “To watch her standing behind the bench. And then stand there after an overtime loss, wondering what kind of mood she was going to be in. That’s the first time I’ve ever waited for a coach to come out, wondering what kind of mood they were going to be in. It was awesome. Truly.”
As someone who has suffered through overtime losses plenty of times during his multiple decades as a coach, Maurice wondered how long it might take for Sydney to emerge from the dressing room.
The irony was not lost on Maurice, knowing how many times he’d kept others waiting for him as he decompressed after a crushing defeat or even an exhilarating victory.
“First of all, how long is this going to take? I think about how many hours my wife has waited for me,” said Maurice. “To see what kind of mood she’s in and then (during) the drive to her place, she was talking about the game and God, it was like looking in a mirror.
“She was (talking about) shift changes she missed and things that she missed. She’s talking about all of the things she could have changed and then how happy she was about how her girls have played. I had a great night. It was fun.”
You know what they say about the apple often not falling far from the tree.
Who handles overtime losses better, father or daughter?
“Oh, she’s way more solid than I am. But, honest to God, the words coming out of her mouth I’ve said in my own head a thousand times,” said Maurice. “Anyway, I was actually really impressed with how aware she was of what happened on the game from the bench and the details that she would change.
“I’m not sure she’s ready for a life of it (coaching). I think she should stick to teaching, it’s a little calmer.”
In the midst of the dog days of a bumpy season that somehow has the Panthers below the playoff line in the Eastern Conference, having the opportunity to see a friendly face — and enjoy a nice meal and visit together — would have been welcome for Maurice.
After capturing back-to-back Stanley Cups and making three straight Cup final appearances, expectations were once again sky high for Maurice and the Panthers coming into this season. But, it can be hard to maintain that level when you’ve played into June in each of the past three years.
Especially when the lengthy laundry list of injured players includes captain Aleksander Barkov, who has yet to appear in a game this season.
And while winger Matthew Tkachuk just returned to the lineup after missing the first 47 games of the campaign, Brad Marchand has been on the shelf for the past seven games, so let’s just say the Panthers are still working on rounding into form.
“Those are factors, not excuses for us. They’re just factors,” said Maurice. “When you lose one or two guys, you can still demand and expect your team to look close to a certain way. But it’s been six to eight (injured) players the entire year, so you’re not going to look the same way. We have had to make some adjustments, which is painful for us. We don’t want to change that core identity and style of play. We just look different. Most of the men that we have out of our lineup are big men, so we don’t forecheck (the same). We don’t look the same.
“Losses are harder because you get used to winning and you crave it. When it doesn’t happen for you, there’s a frustration that you have to watch (out for). Our guys have handled it exceptionally well.”
And when you’ve been to the top of the mountain on two separate occasions, there’s a belief instilled that is unwavering.
“Our analytics are better than our record,” said Maurice. “So we just believe that if we stay in the fight long enough, that we can do it. All we’ve got to do is make the playoffs. We never had home-ice advantage in any of our rounds, we’ve just got to get there. But getting there in the East right now is a task.”
The Panthers believe in themselves and they’ve bought into what the guy behind the bench has been selling since he arrived on the scene in 2022.
“He’s always got a knack of knowing what to say at any given time,” said Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. “I always look back to his first few days of training camp when he came in. If you blanked out on video the last couple of years, but you watched the first three days of training camp, you would know how we play and that’s a testament to how well he gets his message across.”
No conversation with Maurice would be complete without some talk of the good old days, when he stood behind the Jets’ bench for more than eight seasons and helped guide them to their highest playoff heights.
When the rosters for the 2026 Heritage Classic alumni game were relayed to him, Maurice went on the offensive.
“Did they get a hold of Buff?” Maurice asked. “Really. Is he coming?”
When told that Byfuglien had committed to participating, Maurice pulled out one of his patented one-liners.
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“He’s training for that game, I know it,” he said.
Maurice spent a few more minutes reminiscing about the outdoor games he was a part of with the Jets, fondly remembering the overtime goal from Bryan Little against the Calgary Flames in Regina in 2019.
The bench boss also reflected on the outdoor game in 2016 against the Edmonton Oilers that included so many of the Smythe Division stars from both teams taking part in the alumni game and how it stirred up so many memories of the 1980s.
“There were so many great players out there that we all grew up with,” said Maurice. “And I thought that game kind of felt like maybe a gift to Mark Chipman for bringing the team back, and then to have a full building. It was kind of like ‘the team is back’ in so many ways.”
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Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.
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