Ahead of Game 7, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice discussed preparation for the series finale.
Maurice’s statement on the loss of Brad Scheifele
Maurice: On behalf of myself, my family, and the entire Florida Panther organization, we send our deepest condolences and sympathies to Mark Scheifele, his family, and the Winnipeg Jet family. The Scheifele family are very close.
An observation from last night: It was a display of courage and focus for Mark to do what he did, and possibly an even greater display of the Scheifele family and the Winnipeg Jet family for him to have played with his brothers. That extends out to Scott Arniel, Kevin Cheveldayoff, Mark Chipman, and all of the Jets fans. They built a culture of family there that allowed that inspiration to happen.
Again, a thank you to them for that display, and also our condolences to them. If you would be so kind, we will leave it at that. I don’t think it is my place to take questions on that.
Q&A
As a coach, what can you do on a day like today with the finality of a Game 7?
Maurice: You are just trying to frame the minds in a positive way. There is a certain freedom that comes with a Game 7. Your work is done. Once that video has gone up and you’ve said your speed, the puck drops, and you just play.
I am just kind of watching the room and feeling the vibe. It is always the same. Game 7s are completely different from other games; it is a different context, and there is a positive excitement and energy in there. It’s every cliche you’ve ever heard: “Nothing to save it for.” It’s all true.
It is the best part of our game. It is different, too, because it is a seven-game series. Each team has earned it. They’ve earned the right to go out and play with that kind of freedom.
When you prepare your Game 7 speech, do you write anything down?
Maurice: I never write anything down because then I would be tied to those words. I would say I have a general idea. It’s somewhat specific. Sometimes I have words in my head that I am pretty sure are going to come out.
All of it would be what I would feel from yesterday to the time I walk into the room based on what I think they need. My entire goal is to be completely honest with them. It wouldn’t be the words. It’s the feel. Show them exactly how I feel. The words just come.
I try to feel what they need and tell them how I feel about that. Which made no sense. It will be tighter than that. I can guarantee you. Hopefully.
Brad Marchand is playing his 13th Game 7 tonight.
Maurice: That’s crazy. Hopefully, everything he can share can rub off on his teammates. Who knows? Certainly, as you get older, you appreciate it. There are not 13 more, or that would be impressive, to say the least.
That awareness — we had that going back a few years. We had Eric Staal in a Game 7 and Kyle Okposo in a Game 7. Those players understand the joy of it. Nobody ever, in the backyard rink, said, “Hey, it’s Game 3.” The bases are loaded, and it is the bottom of the ninth, always, when you dream about it.
That is what we are presented with today. We should be able to enjoy that.
What is the best approach for the players to prepare for a night like tonight? Is it to relax? Is it to lock in? Is it different for each person?
Maurice: Just be true to yourself. There are guys who will have to set an alarm because that is the way they are built. Some guys will be bouncing off the walls all afternoon. Just be who you are. Handle your day, but don’t overhandle your day. It is still just hockey.
You’ve won Game 7s on the road and at home. Is it any different on the road? Between the bus and the hotel, the team is a tight unit.
Maurice: I don’t know. It all depends on how connected your team is. If you get a tight group — and probably everybody feels they do — I think there is something nice about it just being them in the room. We try to create that environment a lot.
The puck is going to drop, and away we go. That is all I know about Game 7.
Your team played through a lot of pain and injuries in the last few runs. Can you speak to why the players do what they do to play through pain in these moments?
Maurice: In order to get to Game 7s, so many players have played through significant things. There is an investment in that, right? It starts to build that culture.
I think back to two years ago, and the guys who couldn’t play had broken bones. There were still five guys with broken bones in the lineup.
Radko Gudas suffered a high-ankle sprain early in Game 1 of the final, and it took him 10 minutes to get back to the bench. That is a six-week injury. The thought of him not being there, knowing what the other guys were playing through, was not something he could live with.
There is a bond that is created through pain, through adversity, through watching your brothers go through it. You won’t let each other down. It is all part of that great culture, as we saw last night. They just won’t leave each other.
What did you want to get out of this morning with the optional skate?
Maurice: I would watch from the airplane to this morning to get a feel of where we were at. If I felt they needed to be really connected, I would stuff all of them on the ice. It was a full eight minutes. There was nothing that was going to happen on the ice that was important unless I felt there was. And there wasn’t.
Why did you want to get out on the ice yourself?
Maurice: I do it by numbers. The cut-off is 13. Less than 13, I don’t go on the ice. 13 or more, I go on the ice.
In the 26 years before you arrived in Florida, they won four series. They’ve won many more than that since then. How much does the identity that’s been built matter on a day like this?
Maurice: That identity was built long, long before I got here. I was the guy who was born on third and brags about the triple. They had 122 points before I got there. I coached that down to 92 the next year.
It is there. It is in the men. The other story is Bill Zito and the guys he’s brought into the group. Those are the two stories in our room.
I have changed how I coach and how I relate to people based on what I have learned from them. It wasn’t me coming in and laying my personality on those guys to make them better. The way they treat each other is an incredible thing to be around.
