Paul Maurice has been around the NHL for more than 30 years. He’s a bona fide coaching legend.
So when Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour confronted him for not shaking his players’ hands after the Florida Panthers‘ 5-3 Eastern Conference final-clinching win in Game 5, Maurice calmly explained why he didn’t go through the line.
Maurice, who started coaching in the NHL as a member of the Hartford Whalers in 1995 and did two terms in Carolina from 1997-04 and 2002-12, is coaching in his fourth Stanley Cup final — and third straight with the Panthers. He won the Stanley Cup for the first time last year.
Why Didn’t Paul Maurice Shake The Carolina Hurricanes’ Hands?
Maurice felt it more appropriate for the players, who just spent a week-plus doing battle over five hard-fought games, to shake hands rather than himself and a bunch of his coaches.
“I don’t believe the coaches should shake the players’ hands,” Maurice said. “There’s this long list of people in suits and track suits. We had like 400 people on the ice, and they’re all really important to our group, but not one of them was in the game.”
Cameras caught Brind’Amour appearing to get heated when shaking Maurice’s hand after the game ended. Maurice stated his opinion and said there were no hard feelings between himself and his former player.
“It’s a personal belief, and I really appreciate what [Brind’Amour] did,” Maurice said. “I appreciate the risk he took [to confront Maurice], because he’s concerned that ‘somebody here is going to be upset that they didn’t shake our players’ hands;’ I asked them not to, and he said he understood it.”
Even though Brind’Amour appeared frustrated by Maurice’s decision, the veteran coach explained part of his decision-making was to benefit the Carolina players.
“It’s the end of one season, it’s excitement for another,” Maurice said. “The last thing a player on the Carolina Hurricanes deserves is 50 more guys in suits [to shake hands with] — they have no idea who they are.
“There should be something kind of beautiful about the camera on those men who played shaking hands, and we should respect that.”
Why Do Players Shake Hands After NHL Playoff Series?
Players have shaken hands after Stanley Cup playoff series for decades, and Maurice loves that tradition. But along the line, he isn’t sure when coaches and support staff started jumping in the end-of-series handshake line.
“I don’t know where it changed,” Maurice said. “When I first got in the league, you’d never shake the players’ hands. Some coach wanted to get on camera, is the only thing I can figure out. Maybe you’d want to shake Wayne Gretzky’s hand. I don’t know why it changed, but I don’t think it’s right.”
Maurice approached Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube after Florida’s seven-game second-round series win to explain why he wouldn’t shake their hands. He said both Berube and Brind’Amour could understand where Maurice was coming from.
“I figured if I could sell it in Toronto [it would work],” Maurice said, “and he understood it because he’s played, and Roddy’s played, so they both kind of get it.”
Though Maurice never played in the NHL, he did have a standout junior-hockey career with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League that was prematurely ended by an eye injury.
The club’s owners Peter Karmanos and Jim Rutherford hired Maurice to coach the team as a teenager. They then made him the youngest coach in pro sports history when hiring the then-28-year-old Maurice to coach the Whalers midseason in 1995-96.
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