On a travel day on Saturday, Panthers head coach Paul Maurice discussed the areas for improvement after his team’s Game 6 loss and the emotions surrounding Game 7s.
After reviewing the tape of Game 6, what adjustments do you think need to be made? There were only four high-danger shots from your team. That is not the team’s style. Do you feel like you can get back to the north-south style you like to play?
Maurice: You are right in what you said as a theme. I believe we had 81 shot attempts. We got 22 to the net. That would be the stat that would jump out at you before you even watch the video. You then go in and say, “Why?”
We gave up 41 shot attempts, and 17 got to our net. That is pretty good against a pretty good offensive team. I don’t mind that part of the game for us.
Maybe what we need to do is have 71 or 61 shot attempts. There are a lot of different ways to look at it. We looked at it pretty hard this morning.
How helpful is the approach of assuming a series will go seven games and trying to carve out an edge by the time the seventh game rolls around?
Maurice: When you get to the playoffs, you never want to have to walk into your room and say something for the first time. You don’t want it to be the first time they’ve heard it, unless it is something inspirational. You don’t want it to be technical; “Hey, we are changing this!”
You want it to be something you’ve planned for and talked about. The Game 7 idea is something we’ve talked about before every series. We talk about it in the regular season, as a matter of fact. The style of play that leads to Game 7 is where we want to get to.
The Stanley Cup Final Game 7 was the biggest of your career. Craig Berube also has the same experience. What does that experience change, if anything, from your perspective?
Maurice: I would imagine if you have positive experiences with them, you look forward to it. I am not sure how much experience with Game 7 matters all that much. There are probably some guys in your lineup who have no Game 7 experience and might be great at it because they don’t have any. Who knows?
I don’t know what the value of all your experience is. It is a great idea if you have 20 years of experience, but if it is the same experience every year for 20 years, you only have one year of experience.
It is going to be exciting. That is about all I can come up with now.
There must be something to the experience, though?
Maurice: I am trying to think of what the truth would be. You wouldn’t be less jacked up just because it’s Game 6. I’m not really saving my best coaching for Game 7. It doesn’t sound like a very good recipe for getting to Game 7 ever.
Personally, I enjoy them. As you get older, you enjoy the more unusual events of your life. You are more aware of them. Game 7 is cool.
You used the word “cool.” Craig Berube used the word “fun.” Do we sometimes miss the point with Game 7s when we talk so much about pressure? Are these the moments you want?
Maurice: No, you want to win in four. You do, 100%. But you will remember the Game 7s. There are not a lot of them. The further into the playoffs, the more intense they are. But there is a freedom in Game 7 that is not anywhere else.
On both teams, you have guys dealing with physical stuff. They will say, “I just have to play one more game.” If they get to play one more game after that, they will deal with that then. In the moment, in the warmup, whatever they are dealing with before becomes far more mentally manageable. Everybody goes, and everybody goes hard.
There is a freedom to Game 7 that is not like any other. For both of these teams, they have earned it. They’ve earned the right to go as flat-out as they can and enjoy the process of it. They haven’t failed to get to a Game 7.
Now, we were carrying a bit of a different weight last year going into the Game 7. We kind of took the long road, but when you are down 0-2, then they’re down 3-2, and both teams have battled hard, both teams have earned the right to enjoy this.
Is there anyone among the player group you lean on more in Game 7 scenarios? What sort of impact can the personalities in the locker room make in this situation?
Maurice: It’s a good question. Who will I try to get to between now and game time? I don’t think I am going to manufacture a meeting with one player, but I will just make sure I am in public spaces a fair amount and that they hear the “Have some fun tonight” idea.
There are a couple of guys I will talk to and make sure they connect with (each other). The most important thing is that the players are connecting with each other. It is not me. Whether they are playing cards on the plane or eating dinner, it’s not quiet. They are constantly making those connections — that is the important thing.
Is there anything you’ve heard a player say before a Game 7 that has resonated?
Maurice: No. The best line ever was in junior at the Memorial Cup. I am not going to fire his name out, but he said, “Fellas, we have to win tonight. This is probably going to be a bunch of our last game of organized hockey.” I thought it was an awesome line. And it was true. When you play major junior, there are a bunch of 19-year-old guys who aren’t going to turn pro, and that was it. That was their last game.
Where does Ryan Lomberg’s “Together forever” line from last year rank on the list?
Maurice: I am not exactly sure how that all transpired. It may well be his. It may well be another guy’s. I don’t know.
He can keep that one. I am not trying to take it away from him. I just wasn’t really a part of that. I didn’t sign the board. Usually, if you sign the board, you have to put money on it. I can’t do that.
Do you look at the lineup differently when it comes to a Game 7?
Maurice: If you have a decision to make on two players, who do you think has a style or a personality to lend itself to being present in the moment and truly enjoy them for what they are, with the excitement of them? The less tense guy, maybe, but at that point, no, these guys are so specialized in what they do. You will select your lineup based on what fits it.
