The only two coaches ahead of Maurice are Scotty Bowman and Joel Quenneville, who have 1,244 and 969 wins, respectively. He’s second all time with 1,928 games coached, trailing Bowman, who has coached 2,141 games. Maurice is also the all-time loss leader with 765.
“My appreciation for things is the whole group here,” Maurice told reporters after the game. “This has been a wholly and completely unexpected level of joy that I find in my job because of the men who are around here.”
Maurice, now in his 27th NHL season, is 915-765-99-148 in 1,928 career games with the Panthers, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets. The 58-year-old coach has made it to the Stanley Cup Final three times, taking the Hurricanes in 2002 and the Panthers in 2023 and 2024,
Last season, Florida defeated the Edmonton Oilers in seven games, giving the franchise its first championship in its history, and Maurice his first Stanley Cup championship.
Before joining the NHL, Maurice spent five seasons as an assistant coach in the Ontario Hockey League with the Windsor Spitfires, Detroit Compuware Ambassadors and Detroit Junior Red Wings. He took over as head coach for the Junior Red Wings in 1993-94, and the following season, won an OHL Championship.
The Panthers are 36-29-4 with 96 points, third in the Atlantic Division. They’re four points back of the Maple Leafs for the top spot in the division. As it stands, they would face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of this spring’s Stanley Cup Playoffs.
