The Florida Panthers are one win away of capturing back-to-back Stanley Cup titles. If head coach Paul Maurice’s locker room speeches are anywhere near as good as his press conferences, we can see why.
Maurice spoke with the media this week as his team aims to complete a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night. One reporter asked about the mix of personalities the Panthers have on their team, and Maurice responded with an incredible analogy.
Maurice wanted to explain how seeing a player act one way on the ice and another way off of it does not make that player a phony or a hypocrite. He said it’s kind of the same thing as how a person would never think about slamming a beer while at church.
“Have you ever shotgunned a beer? Have you ever been to church? Would you shotgun a beer in Church? Okay, that doesn’t make you a hypocrite. There’s a context and a place for all things,” Maurice said.
As an example of his own personal experience, Maurice spoke about how he “hated” Matthew Tkachuk when Maurice was the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets. Now that he is the coach of the Panthers, Maurice said he has come to realize that Tkachuk is a “wonderful human being.”
“They’re really, really nice people, and then the puck drops. Sometimes you say a prayer, sometimes you shotgun a beer,” Maurice said. “That’s kind of like our team.”
