Paul Maurice is not mincing words when it comes to his Florida Panthers.
Maurice’s Panthers are back in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year. They won it all last year, beating the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. But guess what? The 58-year-old coach believes this is the best team he’s ever coached.
“I’m not being disrespectful to the other teams I’ve coached, but this is the best team I’ve ever coached. It’s not really that close,” Maurice said when talking with the media on Saturday, via reporter Jordan McPherson.
Those are some bold words for Maurice. They’re especially bold when you consider his team won the Stanley Cup last year. They did add Brad Marchand, which enhanced their roster. If they lose to Edmonton this year, those words might not look so good in retrospect.
Maurice has been an NHL head coach for four different teams over five stints. He’s coached the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Panthers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, and now the Panthers. This is his 27th season as an NHL head coach, so he has been around a lot of different teams and players. If he says this is his best team ever, that says a lot. Now the Panthers need to live up to that hype and win for the second year in a row.
Game 1 of the series is scheduled to take place on Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton. Maurice is known for his quotes, including a good one he had last week.
