Some thoughts on Paul Maurice winning the Stanley Cup

On December 11th 2021 I wrote an article called “It’s time to part ways with Paul Maurice”. The next day he would quit and leave the Winnipeg Jets. We would later find out he felt it was time to leave Winnipeg he wasn’t getting enough out of the team his window closed being a head coach here but like many of us the pandemic really knocked the wind out of his sails.

I have mixed feelings about that article. On one hand Maurice needed to go and it was the right choice, he couldn’t get the team to rise to the occasion on a regular basis any more. He lost the love of the game when the rink was empty for a season the sun had set on him.

On the other hand he was and still a great man and coach it’s hard to let a guy like that go, even if the special teams weren’t great. The difference between his final post game media scrum to his interview after resigning a it looked like million pounds were lifted off his shoulders. He needed the break from the game, he had been coaching for pretty much 26 years straight at that point.

He said on his way out of Winnipeg “this is a good team they just need a different voice” I tend to believe that he meant that this was a good team they were pretty damn successful under the new voice of Rick Bowness, as the team didn’t change a whole lot from the end of Maurice’s time and the start of Bowness’.

Even though at the time I wanted Maurice gone from the Jets I was still a little cheesed he quit on the Jets, I felt that way up until Monday night immediately after his Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup,when he said ” If I could have one more thing, “it would be for the Winnipeg Jets to win the next Stanley Cup.”

That’s crazy coach because I’m sure almost every other coach who just won one Cup would want another one the year after.

The moment you heard that quote from Maurice you knew he still cared so much for the Winnipeg Jets. It was almost like being in a relationship that was pretty good, but you needed to end things so both of you could do better for yourselves. He got the best deal out of it, the thing he’s been chasing since he was probably a little kid. He probably wouldn’t have gotten that had he stayed in Winnipeg even if things started to go better for him in late 2021.

I am incredibly happy he went and won his cup almost three decades in the NHL as a head coach is a long time he’s been through it all, he took advantage of his situation in Florida and made the most of it. Sometimes it’s better to just let go.

I hope he is right about Winnipeg winning it all in 2025. As of right now I don’t know if the team Kevin Cheveldayoff will put together a Stanley Cup contending team this off season but we will find out starting with the NHL Draft on Friday night.