Confirmed with Link: Paul Maurice signs 3 year deal to be head coach of the Florida Panthers (update 3/3/2023 given vote of confidence by Bill Zito)

[KW]

As a fan from Winnipeg, I find this hire incredibly perplexing for Florida. Maurice is the furthest thing from a defensive minded coach which I see as the biggest need for your team.

Couple observations:

- he’s a stubborn, stubborn coach. He will keep going back to things that simply don’t work despite having numerous different options.
- he will sparsely play the young players and will choose to play plugs over young guys who have a future with the club despite the floors/ceilings being much higher.
- your fourth line will play 5 mins a game and he will drive your top 6 into the ground from over-usage
- Bob will needlessly play b2b games despite having a capable backup even if he struggles

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[letsgrowcactus]

As a fan from Winnipeg, I find this hire incredibly perplexing for Florida. Maurice is the furthest thing from a defensive minded coach which I see as the biggest need for your team.

Couple observations:

- he’s a stubborn, stubborn coach. He will keep going back to things that simply don’t work despite having numerous different options.
- he will sparsely play the young players and will choose to play plugs over young guys who have a future with the club despite the floors/ceilings being much higher.
- your fourth line will play 5 mins a game and he will drive your top 6 into the ground from over-usage
- Bob will needlessly play b2b games despite having a capable backup even if he struggles

In your opinion, what are his strenghts as a coach?

 

[GaryPoppins]

In your opinion, what are his strenghts as a coach?

Honestly, his strength is his media savvy. The guy is a media darling and his interviews are always really insightful. But from a results standpoint, PP was always pretty average, Pk was not great. We didn’t generate a bunch 5v5 in the last few years and didn’t defend overly well… so.. don’t honestly know

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

As a fan from Winnipeg, I find this hire incredibly perplexing for Florida. Maurice is the furthest thing from a defensive minded coach which I see as the biggest need for your team.

Couple observations:

- he’s a stubborn, stubborn coach. He will keep going back to things that simply don’t work despite having numerous different options.
- he will sparsely play the young players and will choose to play plugs over young guys who have a future with the club despite the floors/ceilings being much higher.
- your fourth line will play 5 mins a game and he will drive your top 6 into the ground from over-usage
- Bob will needlessly play b2b games despite having a capable backup even if he struggles

He had some top 10 offenses and defenses but only in the same year once, the 2017-18 season.

Seems like consistency the first few years was an issue and then in a division with St. Louis, Chicago, Minnesota and Nashville never made things easy.

Some of your claims can attributed to many coaches who are chasing playoffs, especially about not playing rookies or driving your main players into the ground.

Some blame can be cast towards GMs if there isn't the depth, the age of some of the core etc but coach still has to make the best of the current situation.

We saw some of this here with Bob Boughner, he rode our top 6 into the ground but we were a bubble team and he's likely fighting for success and to further his coaching career.

You see this in lots of industries where bosses will tend to go to veteran employees over newer ones and often teams that are known to be building have the option to play their rookies more.

I was a tad shocked Maurice was hired but he does have experience having top flight offenses and/or defenses, hoping he can be rewarded with a remodeled defense next year when our cap space is a lot more open to spend.

Appreciate the concern but most of us know it'll be a guessing year, we can still be a top 3 Atlantic team, a wildcard team or miss if Metro remains competitive with 4 or 5 teams that make it.

 

[KW]

So this Maurice discussion shows me that the consensus is that Zito sucks again, needs to learn hockey.

 

[Zippity]

In your opinion, what are his strenghts as a coach?

He’s a great talker. Supposedly he can make them cry in the room. Lol
But somehow zero accountability on the ice. He let his favourites run the room into the toilet.

 

[KW]

Oh and Maurice is the worst coach ever. Panthers are doomed! Team needs to relo!

(Ignore that the comments are from Jets fans. They’re super fair and impartial.)

 

[IceManCat]

For some reason I thought he had been out of the league for a long time just checked its only been two years. It's bene a looooonnggg - 3 years

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

For some reason I thought he had been out of the league for a long time just checked its only been two years. It's bene a looooonnggg - 3 years

Uhh he stepped down in December it's been half a season lmao

 

[JP Mick]

He’s a great talker. Supposedly he can make them cry in the room. Lol
But somehow zero accountability on the ice. He let his favourites run the room into the toilet.

The Panthers have a good leadership group in the room, I don’t think this will be an issue here.

 

[I am not exposed]

For some reason I thought he had been out of the league for a long time just checked its only been two years. It's bene a looooonnggg - 3 years

What are you talking about!

I know covid has messed up people's perception of time, but he hasn't been out of the league for 2 years lol.

 

[ScottyMascotty]

These statements look very promising

 

[Kaako Kappo]

These statements look very promising
View attachment 587064

I just wanna point out that this man absolutely will say everything you want to hear. Whether or not he does what he says is a whole other story.

 

[KW]

The other thing to keep in mind is that if those Jets teams that were coached by Maurice had actually had Cooper or Bednar, or maybe Q, they would have at least made the finals but likely won the Cup.

I mean, that’s the message just about every post about Maurice says. And since Zito picked him anyway, Zito’s got to be a loser too. Internet experts always know best!

 

[StrangeVision]

It's kind of weird to me that people still care about what Maurice says at this point. It's well known he's a good talker and has been saying the right things for 25 years, he just doesn't have a record that matches the quality of his words. What he says is largely irrelevant, the only thing that matters is what happens on the ice. I mean, I don't want to call the man a charlatan, but he seems pretty damn close in my mind.

And I really don't understand the sensitivity with regards to criticizing Zito. He's made some great moves and he's made some bad moves. Him being the catalyst for getting us out of the basement doesn't absolve him of his bad decisions, and the jury is still out on if this was a bad decision or not. I want this team to be great, I don't really care how we get there and who the GM is at the time, the only thing that matters is that there is at least one Stanley Cup banner hanging from the rafters. If we have to shitcan Zito at some point to get there, oh well, he's a GM not a saint, and I'm a Panthers fan not a Zito disciple.

 

[KW]

It's kind of weird to me that people still care about what Maurice says at this point. It's well known he's a good talker and has been saying the right things for 25 years, he just doesn't have a record that matches the quality of his words. What he says is largely irrelevant, the only thing that matters is what happens on the ice. I mean, I don't want to call the man a charlatan, but he seems pretty damn close in my mind.

And I really don't understand the sensitivity with regards to criticizing Zito. He's made some great moves and he's made some bad moves. Him being the catalyst for getting us out of the basement doesn't absolve him of his bad decisions, and the jury is still out on if this was a bad decision or not. I want this team to be great, I don't really care how we get there and who the GM is at the time, the only thing that matters is that there is at least one Stanley Cup banner hanging from the rafters. If we have to shitcan Zito at some point to get there, oh well, he's a GM not a saint, and I'm a Panthers fan not a Zito disciple.

Bottom line: I trust the data Zito has when making his decisions WAY WAY WAY more than the data you or the other warriors have. The entertainment value is another question altogether though.

 

[IceManCat]

Uhh he stepped down in December it's been half a season lmao

What are you talking about!

I know covid has messed up people's perception of time, but he hasn't been out of the league for 2 years lol.

That post was actually meant for the Artem Anisimov thread on the main board! Have no idea how it ended up here

 

[Ghoste]

I get what everyone is saying about his win/playoff success record and that he’s just a media darling. But I’m just hoping things just got too stale in Winnipeg and/or that that team just wasn’t constructed good enough to consistently go far in the playoffs.

-ghoste

 

[pantherbot]

We'll just have to wait and see with Maurice. He's been around a long time and has a lot of experience, but the big success has eluded him. That's not unlike other coaches until they find success in the right situation with the right team, like Trotz for example, then he's hailed as a hero.

I think it's fair to say media/fans like to weave storylines and theories with the limited amount of information we see from the outside. And most of those stories are tied strictly to performance, but success is so often tied to a lot of random things going right, not just the process. I'd think as Panther fans we should know this better than anyone, people will come up with uninformed stories all the time. They just stick to a narrative because it's convenient, when things are always way more nuanced.

We don't know what the upper management has mandated to him in the past, how the whole power structures were set up etc. He quit the Jets mid-season because to me it sounded like he couldn't work in that situation anymore, which sounds pretty familiar to a lot of good people who quit their positions because the org. they work with is just messed up and they can't stand it anymore. People point to the Wheeler/captaincy situation as an example of Maurice's leadership failure, but it's not like he picks the people on the team...if you have a team full of assholes, well one of them has to be captain. And I'm not saying Wheeler is like that, I'm just saying we have no idea what went on behind the scenes, but a crappy locker room isn't always the fault of a coach or one person, not like they can change the personalities in the room.

Point is, I'm going to go into the Maurice-era without any prior biases and let the results speak for themselves. He's here for the long haul, so might as well start with a clean slate and give him a chance.

 

[I am not exposed]

We'll just have to wait and see with Maurice. He's been around a long time and has a lot of experience, but the big success has eluded him. That's not unlike other coaches until they find success in the right situation with the right team, like Trotz for example, then he's hailed as a hero.

I think it's fair to say media/fans like to weave storylines and theories with the limited amount of information we see from the outside. And most of those stories are tied strictly to performance, but success is so often tied to a lot of random things going right, not just the process. I'd think as Panther fans we should know this better than anyone, people will come up with uninformed stories all the time. They just stick to a narrative because it's convenient, when things are always way more nuanced.

We don't know what the upper management has mandated to him in the past, how the whole power structures were set up etc. He quit the Jets mid-season because to me it sounded like he couldn't work in that situation anymore, which sounds pretty familiar to a lot of good people who quit their positions because the org. they work with is just messed up and they can't stand it anymore. People point to the Wheeler/captaincy situation as an example of Maurice's leadership failure, but it's not like he picks the people on the team...if you have a team full of assholes, well one of them has to be captain. And I'm not saying Wheeler is like that, I'm just saying we have no idea what went on behind the scenes, but a crappy locker room isn't always the fault of a coach or one person, not like they can change the personalities in the room.

Point is, I'm going to go into the Maurice-era without any prior biases and let the results speak for themselves. He's here for the long haul, so might as well start with a clean slate and give him a chance.

I am underwhelmed with the appointment of Maurice, but this is a very good post.

I will of course give him a chance. And if he leads us to a Stanley Cup, I'll quite happily admit I was wrong about my concerns.

 

[Gentle Man]

Maurice wasnt the best choice. But he was a better choice than Brunette who DIDNT EVEN GET A MAIN coaching spot.

And on SiriusXM, when the topic of Bruno and Maurice is brought up, it is always mentioned how much Bruno was outcoached in the playoffs. These are outsiders saying the same thing we all said.

Was PoMo the best choice? Nope. That would have been Cassidy most likely. It wasnt Trotz, he retired for now. Quenneville was a fantasy.

PoMo was the 2nd, at worst 3rd best choice this off-season

 

[KW]

One of the easiest opinions to have on an anonymous forum is to be super critical about something now, with the caveat that “if it turns out a year from now that I was wrong, I’ll be happy to say so”. But nobody, unless the initials are JLD, is going to go back a year to hold people “accountable”. And everyone will be happy at that point anyway (since things went well) so the wrong statement today becomes a freebie later.

Given how well Zito has handled most things, I’m definitely giving Maurice the benefit of doubt.

 

[Jean Luc Discard]

We'll just have to wait and see with Maurice. He's been around a long time and has a lot of experience, but the big success has eluded him. That's not unlike other coaches until they find success in the right situation with the right team, like Trotz for example, then he's hailed as a hero.

I think it's fair to say media/fans like to weave storylines and theories with the limited amount of information we see from the outside. And most of those stories are tied strictly to performance, but success is so often tied to a lot of random things going right, not just the process. I'd think as Panther fans we should know this better than anyone, people will come up with uninformed stories all the time. They just stick to a narrative because it's convenient, when things are always way more nuanced.

We don't know what the upper management has mandated to him in the past, how the whole power structures were set up etc. He quit the Jets mid-season because to me it sounded like he couldn't work in that situation anymore, which sounds pretty familiar to a lot of good people who quit their positions because the org. they work with is just messed up and they can't stand it anymore. People point to the Wheeler/captaincy situation as an example of Maurice's leadership failure, but it's not like he picks the people on the team...if you have a team full of assholes, well one of them has to be captain. And I'm not saying Wheeler is like that, I'm just saying we have no idea what went on behind the scenes, but a crappy locker room isn't always the fault of a coach or one person, not like they can change the personalities in the room.

Point is, I'm going to go into the Maurice-era without any prior biases and let the results speak for themselves. He's here for the long haul, so might as well start with a clean slate and give him a chance.

In the corporate world, managers tend to hire B-level recruits if the available A-level candidates are difficult people to deal with on day-to-day basis. Not saying that Maurice is specifically B-level coach but rather that Zito wanted a coach he meshes well with, which he mentioned quite a bit during the hiring presser.

imo building a championship team is more about finding the right composition of personnel instead of trying to acquire all shiny new toys á la Vegas Golden Nuggets. Like you said, we don't know what kind of a team this is until the season starts or even when the season has progressed to the point when this team collectively decides to win the Cup instead of just one or two guys, like Verhaeghe in the past playoffs, are fully committed to winning big games.

 

[I am not exposed]

One of the easiest opinions to have on an anonymous forum is to be super critical about something now, with the caveat that “if it turns out a year from now that I was wrong, I’ll be happy to say so”. But nobody, unless the initials are JLD, is going to go back a year to hold people “accountable”. And everyone will be happy at that point anyway (since things went well) so the wrong statement today becomes a freebie later.

Given how well Zito has handled most things, I’m definitely giving Maurice the benefit of doubt.

Oh I will.

And there are plenty of posters who say outrageous things and then turn a blind eye to those previous statements. I remember them though. So does BabyBennett.

 

[BabyBennettov]

Oh I will.

And there are plenty of posters who say outrageous things and then turn a blind eye to those previous statements. I remember them though. So does BabyBennett.

What's the last outrageous thing I've said ?