There’s been a lot of talk about Florida and its newbies recently, especially with the team making the playoff final in the year following their playoff win! And understandably, the Florida Panthers have secured themselves a place amongst the highest unique goal-scoring teams in the NHL, with 19 Panthers scoring in the playoffs! Amongst these players is Seth Jones from the Chicago Blackhawks, who came to the Florida Panthers and completely transformed their series against the Maple Leafs by scoring in game 7 of their round 2 series. So, it’s only understandable that Paul Maurice has some warm words for this new trade.
The Florida coach, who joined the team in 2022 and has seen playoff appearances every year since then, including a Stanley Cup win and a previous final, is not holding back on his praise for his current team. Paul Maurice has GM Bill Zito to thank for putting together a roster that is not holding back this year, but it’s clearly also his coaching tactics that are working now.
Recently, Paul Maurice was asked what his thoughts were on Seth Jones, specifically, with the coach being nudged towards addressing the query of whether the defenseman had exceeded his expectations when the trade happened. “This is the play we had hoped for,” Maurice answered. “How long it would take to get, you know? You’re not sure, but the idea was we saw him, so Bill had him in Columbus. Maurice was referring to the five seasons that Bill Zito spent as GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“We were division rivals in Winnipeg,” Maurice continued, “and played a seven-game series when he was very young, and he was dominant for us. They had some great defensemen there, but we would get a lead on that team, and he was the guy we had a hard time getting a hold of because he could round the back of the net and could get up the ice and generate so much.”
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Which is evidently what he’s done for the Panthers since he decided to step out of Chicago! Maurice went on to talk about how, though he may have been keen on Jones, the player went on to play for a “couple teams that were in a different uh development curve.” “A different development curve,” clearly a cold jab at the Blackhawks that Jones actively opted away from, and for good reason. Paul Maurice’s feelings for Jones are very much reciprocated by the defenseman!
Seth Jones comments about Paul and the Florida locker room and his past with Chicago
Following that famous Paul Maurice after game 4 between the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes regarding the empty net goals, you know the one, about the “horse sh-t,” anyway, in case you didn’t, during the power play at the end of the game, Maurice was asked about how he felt about the goals being let through and replied, “I didn’t like the last two at all. His gap was horseshit,” referring to Bobrovsky. But the goaltender wasn’t on the ice to the point, so it was just really jarring sarcasm. In any case, it had the NHL world in a bit of a tizzy for a while, which ultimately led to Seth Jones having to comment on his new coach’s sense of humor.
“Yeah, it’s different than what I’ve had. Of course, I think he knows how to really take the temperature of the group and the situation of a group, and, you know, he can have a meeting where he’s very intense, you know, whether he’s calling guys out or calling the team out, but he’s also very good at throwing a joke in there, you know, throwing a funny clip in there when we’re doing video.” Jones said, giving fans an insider view of what it’s like in the Panthers locker room, as well as Jones’ nuanced coaching style.
With regard to Jones’ feelings about transferring from the Blackhawks to Florida by choice, he had earlier made his ‘goals’ (literally) very clear. “Winning games makes you feel better,” Jones said, indicating his yearning to transfer to a winning team. “It makes the team feel better. It makes your organization feel better. You have fun coming to the rink every day. That’s what my goal is for this team, as long as I’m here. It could be two weeks. It could be five more years.”
Well, one can only hope that the good feelings continue on till the end of this playoff season; then it’ll be a decision Seth Jones will be able to stand by for a long time coming!
The post Paul Maurice Responds to Seth Jones After Florida Star’s Comments About Panthers Coach appeared first on EssentiallySports.
