The joy Paul Maurice felt on the morning of the start of the Stanley Cup Final was also tinged with sadness. The veteran coach knew there were only at most seven more games left to play.
He had developed a greater appreciation for this moment with the Florida Panthers, 21 removed from his first trip to the final. Bruce Cassidy felt the same way being back as coach of the Vegas Golden Knights three years after falling one win short with Boston.
So did the Panthers, who last season won the Presidents' Trophy as the best team in the regular season and lost in the second round of the playoffs under interim coach Andrew Brunette -- in a head job for the first time. Maurice in December 2021 stepped away from his third NHL job and 24th season with Winnipeg and offered the kind of steady hand GM Bill Zito was looking for to take Florida to the next level of contending for a championship.
Maurice, whose team lost Game 1 on Saturday and will look to even the series Monday, sees the value in being able to take in this experience more than in previous decades. His calm demeanour helped the Panthers go from down 3-1 in the first round to Boston to winning that series and two more to reach this point.
Staal would know. Maurice was his first coach in the pros back with Carolina in 2003-04. Maurice was fired after the Hurricanes won just eight of their first 30 games, and replacement Peter Laviolette coached them to the Stanley Cup in 2006. Vegas Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy listens during a news conference ahead of the NHL Stanley Cup hockey final Friday, June 2, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Cassidy compared this stop -- getting to know a lot of new people and making a big life adjustment -- more to Washington than Boston. But he's 58 now and 20 years better than he was with the Capitals.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Meet Calgary-raised Adin Hill, the breakout star of Stanley Cup playoffsAdin Hill, a graduate of the minor\u002Dhockey systems in Calgary and Okotoks, has backstopped the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup final.
Read more »
Meet Calgary-raised Adin Hill, the breakout star of Stanley Cup playoffsAdin Hill, a graduate of the minor\u002Dhockey systems in Calgary and Okotoks, has backstopped the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup final.
Read more »
Stanley Cup Final: Golden Knights, Panthers took similar paths to the topThe Golden Knights and Panthers are not so different from one another, but who will have the edge when the Stanley Cup Final begins on Saturday?
Read more »
Jack Eichel making most of 1st postseason as Golden Knights prepare for Stanley Cup Final | TSNEichel making most of first postseason as Vegas prepares for Stanley Cup Final MORE:
Read more »
Just who is Adin Hill and how did he get to the Stanley Cup Final?Adin Hill didn\u0027t come from nowhere but pretty darn close to that, playing goal for VEGAS in the stanley Cup Final
Read more »
Vegas-Florida Stanley Cup Final pits top team in West against upstart in EastFlorida Panthers accept underdog role against favoured Vegas Golden Knights
Read more »