Paul Maurice blows a gasket the same day Keith Tkachuk calls the Panthers ‘soft’

Mike McKenna
Mike McKenna(MikeMcKenna56)
Paul Maurice blows a gasket the same day Keith Tkachuk calls the Panthers ‘soft’
Credit: Paul Maurice (© John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports)

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Feeling better, Paul Maurice?

After flipping out on his Florida Panthers team Wednesday night, I sure hope so. Because that was one incredible display of passion and emotion.

Early in the second period, with the Panthers up 1-0, things went sideways. Maple Leafs forward Zach Aston-Reese scored on a deflection after he was left wide open in front of the Panthers net.

The worst part is that Aston-Reese wasn’t alone. Toronto teammate Wayne Simmonds was right next to him. There wasn’t a single Panthers anywhere nearby to help goaltender Alex Lyon.

Florida’s defensive coverage was abysmal. There’s no way Maurice felt good about Aston-Reese’s goal, especially considering the Panthers were leading 1-0 at the time.

That was strike one. Strike two came just 34 seconds later, when Florida gave a goal to Maple Leafs forward Calle Jarnkrok on a 2-on-1 rush chance against. But the goal was waved off after the Panthers successfully challenged that the play was offside.

For Maurice, it wasn’t just that his team let a 1-0 lead slip away, it was the way it happened. In less than a minute, Florida’s lack of awareness put them behind the proverbial eight ball. Once again, the defensive coverage was awful. And the puck management was even worse.

Despite his team’s successful challenge, and the score remaining 1-1, Maurice was furious. His team has had every opportunity to earn their way back into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yet Florida has continued to drop the ball at the most important time of the year. The Panthers had dropped four straight contests before Wednesday night’s matchup with Toronto.

Everyone knows what it’s like to reach their breaking point. You feel your blood pressure rise. Your heart rate goes through the roof. Tunnel vision kicks in.

And then: BANG. Detonation. Full-on freak out.

Florida pushed their coach past his sanity threshold. The red mist kicked in. And Maurice let it rip with an expletive-filled tirade on the bench.

And to that I say: good! About time! The Panthers have underachieved all season due to the mental lapses that were on display in Wednesday night’s game. 

It wasn’t just that Florida had lost four games in a row before their matchup with the Leafs. There was a lot more to it. In the past week, the Panthers have faced very public scrutiny from some high profile people. 

There’s golfer Brooks Koepka yelling “Ekblad, you suck” and taunting the Panthers defenseman with an orange cone. Which is kind of funny. It probably got a laugh in the locker room. Hockey players have pretty thick skin when it comes to that type of jeering. Well, usually. Ekblad has made it clear that he and Koepka are not friends.

But I don’t think a single Florida player was laughing when Keith Tkachuk, a five-time NHL All-Star and father of Panthers star forward Matthew Tkachuk, called the team soft during a radio interview Wednesday morning with Toronto 1050.

Word gets around fast in the NHL. And it’s pretty rare that a Dad speaks out on the current state of his son’s team. But Tkachuk has never been shy to give his unfiltered opinion. No doubt that the Panthers got wind of his comments.

Nothing cuts to the core of a hockey player like being called soft. Especially when it comes from someone like Keith Tkachuk, who earned his keep in the NHL through a mix of skill and toughness. He had 1,065 points and 2,219 penalty minutes in 1,201 regular season NHL games.

Thing is: it’s not just the players that felt the heat from Tkachuk’s comments. Maurice and his staff would have, too. Because ultimately it’s up to the coaching staff to prepare and inspire their team. In other words: to not play soft. For Maurice, enough was enough. It was time to let it all out.

I’ve been frustrated watching Florida all season. There’s so much skill in that lineup. Aleksander Barkov is the NHL’s biggest superstar that no one knows about. And Tkachuk has been everything the Panthers hoped for. I think he deserves Hart Trophy votes. Tkachuk’s 97 points lead all Florida players by a wide margin. Barkov – who has played 11 fewer games – is 30 points back at 67.

But it’s been mental errors that have crushed the Panthers. Bad turnovers. Erratic coverage in the defensive zone. And Wednesday’s game was a microcosm of those problems.

Buoyed by a 38-save performance by third-string goaltender Alex Lyon, Florida went on to win the game 3-2 over the Maple Leafs in overtime. The Panthers now sit one point behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card slot in the eastern conference. The win may have saved their season.

I have always respected Maurice for having such an analytical mind. One of his greatest strengths is being able to eloquently portray what’s been happening on the ice with his teams. And with over 900 NHL wins to his credit, Maurice has had an amazing career behind the bench.

But what the world saw on Wednesday from Maurice was raw. It was uncensored, uncalculated, and unapologetic. I loved it. Because the Panthers deserved it.

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