Just one year removed from a disappointing showing in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Florida Panthers find themselves right back in the hunt for hockey's greatest prize again this season, this time against the Edmonton Oilers.
Last year, Maurice tasted defeated. But this year, he feels his team is closer than ever to achieving their ultimate goal.
When asked on Friday about the potential of winning his first Stanley Cup, Maurice may have also inadvertently revealed that he's soon coming to the end of the road with his NHL coaching career. Establishing that it's been 30 years in the league for him, he emphasized the need to win now, with his typical dry Paul Maurice humour.
Maurice has been close a few times in his career, losing in the Finals back in 2001-02 while still with the Carolina Hurricanes. Again, in his second stint with the Hurricanes in 2008-09, Maurice lost in the Eastern Conference Finals. He lost in the Western Conference Finals in 2017-18 with the Winnipeg Jets, and of course, he missed out on hoisting the Cup last summer with the Panthers.
Maurice holds a career-long coaching record of 869 wins, 736 losses, 99 ties and 144 OT losses across 1,849 career NHL games in a coaching career that has lasted 26 years as a head coach. So, yeah, it might be time to win one, as the 57-year-old won't be coaching forever and he may never get this close again.
