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    Jared Clinton·Jan 14, 2015·Partner

    Paul Maurice becomes second-youngest coach to 500 wins

    The Winnipeg Jets victory on Tuesday night was Paul Maurice’s 500th of his career. Just shy of his 47th birthday, Maurice becomes the second-youngest coach to 500 wins, behind only legendary bench boss Scotty Bowman.

    Paul Maurice becomes second-youngest coach to 500 winsPaul Maurice becomes second-youngest coach to 500 wins

    Paul Maurice has found himself in some very elite company.

    With the Winnipeg Jets’ 8-2 dismantling of the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, the Winnipeg bench boss became the second youngest coach (47 years, 348 days) in the history of the NHL to reach 500 wins. The only coach faster? Legendary Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman (45 years, 94 days).

    Maurice got his start in the NHL at the ripe, young age of 28, taking over the coaching duties for the Hartford Whalers. After finishing 19-24-5 the season prior in a lockout-shortened campaign, then-coach Paul Holmgren was on the hotseat in Hartford. After getting out to a 5-6-1 start, the Whalers made the move to relieve Holmgren of his duties, and it would be the beginning of a nine-year run for Maurice as the coach of the Hartford/Carolina franchise.

    After he took over from Holmgren, the Whalers improved, if only slightly, finishing with 29 wins and 66 points under Maurice. Over the course of the next eight seasons, Maurice took a team that had missed the playoffs in six straight years spanning from 1992-93 to 1997-98 and turned them into a perennial playoff contender.

    In 2001-02, he led the Hurricanes to a 35-26-16 record, the Southeast Division title and shocked the NHL by downing the New Jersey Devils in the first round, the Montreal Canadiens in the second, and Toronto Maple Leafs in the third. For the first time in franchise history, the team was in the Stanley Cup Final.

    Though they would be overpowered in five games by the Presidents’ Trophy winning Detroit Red Wings, it was an outstanding feat by a 35-year-old coach who had been with the team for their entire growth to that point. The following season, however, the Hurricanes missed the playoffs, and in 2003-04, after an 8-12-8-2 start, Maurice was let go.

    He found his way back to the NHL in 2006-07, spending two seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, coaching them to a 76-66-22 record over 164 games. Let go after the 2007-08 season, Maurice was at home waiting for a call when the Hurricanes got off to a bad start.

    Less than half way into the 2008-09 season, after firing coach Peter Laviolette, Maurice was snatched up by the same Hurricanes that had let him go just five years earlier. Under Maurice, the team experienced an incredible turn around, going 33-19-5 the rest of the way, and fighting their way all the way to the Eastern Conference Final, where the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins swept them.

    Three years later, in 2011-12, Maurice would again be let go by the Hurricanes. And in January 2014, after the Winnipeg Jets fired coach Claude Noel, Maurice was brought in to coach the NHL’s newest team.

    Under Maurice, the Jets went on a brilliant run, coming just seven points short of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. And this season, though many believed the Jets were bound for the Central Division basement, Maurice has Winnipeg playing the best hockey of its four years in Manitoba’s capital. And now, just shy of his 48th birthday, Maurice can say he is the second-youngest coach to ever crack the 500-win plateau.

    Maurice may never win the Stanley Cups that Bowman has, may never take home a Jack Adams Award, and likely won’t find himself in the Hall of Fame. But having the longevity Maurice has had -- especially in a league where when things go sideways, the coach is the first to go -- is mighty impressive. Maurice has been a fixture of the NHL for 17 seasons and a common figure in the league for the last two decades. Winning 500 games at a younger age than all but one legendary coach is a great achievement, and fitting for a man who has worked so hard to help turn around so many teams.

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    PA Stats Inc·Oct 14, 2009·Partner
    Kings-Rangers Preview Oct 14
    After opening the season with a loss, both the New York Rangers and Los Angeles Kings are two of the hottest teams in the NHL, and both clubs are looking for their longest winning streaks in more than 3 1/2 years. Only one of those teams will match that feat Wednesday night when the Rangers host the surprising Kings. The Rangers (5-1-0) began the season with a 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh on Oct. 2, while the Kings (4-1-0) fell 6-3 to Phoenix in their opener the following night. Since then, New York has won five in a row and Los Angeles has four consecutive victories - a fast start for a Kings team that failed to reach the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season in 2008-09. "It's a great feeling, but we don't want to ride our highs too high and our lows too low," Kings left wing Ryan Smyth said. "We want to stay pretty even keel and enjoy our time." The Kings - 2-0 on their current six-game road trip - are in position to win five in a row for the first time since Feb. 11-March 7, 2006, after beating the New York Islanders 2-1 on Monday. The Rangers, who also started last season 5-0 en route to their fourth consecutive postseason appearance, last won six straight during a seven-game run from Feb. 1-March 2, 2006. New York got closer to matching that Monday, when coach John Tortorella's stern second-intermission lecture sparked a four-goal third period in a 7-2 win over Toronto. "We had a great start to the second period, but then it was like we stopped playing," said forward Vinny Prospal, one of five Rangers with two assists Monday. "After two periods Torts came in and he wasn't really happy. We responded the right way, took the play back to them, scored the fourth goal right away. It was a lot easier after that." Marian Gaborik continued his torrid start with a goal and an assist. The All-Star right wing leads New York with five goals and nine points after signing a five-year, $37.5 million deal on the first day of free agency this summer. Gaborik has nine goals and eight assists in his last 13 games against Los Angeles. Sean Avery, a member of the Kings from 2003-06, has also been a spark for the Rangers after missing the first four games with a sprained right knee. The left wing and noted agitator had two goals Monday and also kept himself out of the penalty box. Los Angeles' success has been keyed by its top line of Smyth, center Anze Kopitar and right wing Justin Williams. The trio has combined for nine of the team's 19 goals, and added 14 assists. "We were put together right off the bat in training camp," said Kopitar, who netted his fourth goal Monday on assists from his linemates. "Ryan is experienced enough and Justin is experienced enough that they know what it takes to get the chemistry going. It's just a good mixture on the line. We're clicking pretty good and hopefully we can keep it going." Smyth is tied with Kopitar for the team lead in goals, and the offseason acquisition from Colorado also has four assists.
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    PA Stats Inc·Oct 12, 2009·Partner
    Coyotes-Sharks Preview Oct 12
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    PA Stats Inc·Oct 12, 2009·Partner
    Kings-Islanders Preview Oct 12
    While the Los Angeles Kings have equaled their best start in five seasons, the New York Islanders already find themselves in a familiar spot in the Atlantic Division. The Kings look for a fourth straight victory when they visit the winless Islanders on Monday afternoon. After opening with a 6-3 loss to Phoenix on Oct. 3, Los Angeles (3-1-0) has gone undefeated, thanks in part to some improved play in the offensive end. Ryan Smyth scored for the fourth time with his new team and Jon Quick made 29 saves in a 2-1 win at St. Louis on Saturday as the Kings jumped out to their best start since also going 3-1-0 in 2005-06. Anze Kopitar added an assist for Los Angeles, which will play for the second time on its season-high six-game road trip. The line of Kopitar, Smyth and Justin Williams has recorded 20 points. "We're getting more people with that kind of a mindset this year to get the puck to the net more often," said coach Terry Murray, whose club posted 79 points last season, its most in the past three. "There was a lot of good foundation work put in last year. A lot of the same people makes it a lot easier to move forward." New York (0-0-3) has struggled to move forward after finishing last in the division each of the past three seasons. The Islanders, at the bottom of the Atlantic again, have lost once in overtime and twice in shootouts. Now, they'll try to snap a three-game losing streak to the Kings. Kopitar has three goals with six assists this season. He scored in Los Angeles' 4-3 shootout victory at New York on Feb. 10. Smyth, who had five goals and 10 assists in 18 games for New York in 2006-07, has three of the Kings' six power-play goals on 18 chances. Quick, owner of a 3.50 goals-against average, hopes the Kings will again shine on the penalty kill. Los Angeles killed off all five Blues' power-play chances after allowing San Jose and Minnesota to go a combined 6 for 8 with the man advantage in its previous two games. "We put an emphasis on our defensive zone," said Quick, who made 22 saves to beat the Islanders on Feb. 10. "Our PK did great, which was good to see because we've been struggling the past couple of games." Though it has not allowed a power-play goal this season, New York couldn't hold a 3-0 lead in a 4-3 shootout loss against Boston on Saturday to remain winless through its first three for the second time in four seasons. "Right now it seems like we're finding ways to lose instead of finding ways to win," center Josh Bailey said. "Something has to change here." Rookie center John Tavares has done his part. The overall No. 1 draft pick this year, Tavares had a goal with an assist Saturday to give him two goals and three assists through three games. While Dwayne Roloson made 27 saves against the Bruins, Martin Biron could be in net for this game after making 25 saves in a 3-2 overtime loss at Ottawa on Thursday. Biron is 4-0-0 with a 2.04 GAA against Los Angeles.
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    PA Stats Inc·Oct 8, 2009·Partner
    Blackhawks-Red Wings Preview Oct 8
    After differing results in their season-opening trips to Europe, the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings are in contrasting situations heading into their first meeting of 2009-10. As the Original Six rivals make their North American debut Thursday night in Detroit, the Blackhawks will try to build off a respectable effort while the Red Wings will attempt to avoid their worst start in 20 years in a rematch of last season's Western Conference finals. Chicago took three out of four possible points in Helsinki against Florida, bouncing back from last Friday's 4-3 shootout defeat for a 4-0 victory the following day. Starting goaltender Cristobal Huet failed to hold on to three different leads as he gave up three goals on 24 shots in the shootout loss, but Finnish backup Antti Niemi stopped all 23 shots in Saturday's win. Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp and Dustin Byfuglien scored a goal apiece in both games, and Kane added a pair of assists. "We're disappointed letting the extra point slip away, but we got three out of four," captain Jonathan Toews said. "It's a great start to our season, better than last season. We got a big test coming up." That challenge for the Blackhawks (1-0-1) is winning at Joe Louis Arena, where their playoff run ended in Game 5 of the conference finals with their third road loss in the series. Including last postseason, Chicago has four victories in its last 22 trips to Detroit. The Blackhawks are 4-9-2 overall against the Red Wings since Jan. 6, 2008. They could improve that record by taking advantage of Detroit's leaky defense and struggling penalty kill units. The Red Wings (0-2-0), who led the league in goals last season, scored three times in each of their two games in Sweden, but goaltenders Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard combined to give up nine goals in the defeats to St. Louis. They allowed four of those goals on nine power-play chances, including the Blues' 3-for-5 performance in Saturday's 5-3 loss for Howard. Chicago, meanwhile, was 3 for 8 (37.5 percent) with the man advantage in Finland and killed off all six penalties against the Panthers. Despite coming within a win of their fifth Stanley Cup since 1997, the Red Wings ranked 25th in penalty killing (78.3) last season. "Our penalty killing wasn't good (Saturday) either," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "We know we have to play better for 60 minutes than we've been doing here." Osgood took a 4-3 loss last Friday, but should have a strong chance at redemption as he tries to help his team avoid three consecutive season-opening defeats for the first time since 1989-90. Since returning to the Red Wings in 2005-06, Osgood is 8-0-1 with a 1.92 goals-against average versus the Blackhawks at home, including postseason. He's also 16-3-2 with a 2.13 GAA overall against Chicago since March 27, 2004, when he was with the Blues. Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom, who needs three points for 1,000 in his career, will try to duplicate his previous success against the Blackhawks. Lidstrom has 26 goals and 80 points versus Chicago - the most against one opponent in his career - but failed to record a point in four matchups last season.
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    PA Stats Inc·Oct 8, 2009·Partner
    Penguins-Flyers Preview Oct 8
    The Philadelphia Flyers retooled their defense after being eliminated in the playoffs by the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second straight year. That doesn't mean they can't outscore an opponent similar to the caliber of the defending Stanley Cup champions in a high-scoring shootout on occasion. The Flyers will try to start a season with four wins for the first time since 1995-96 on Thursday night when they host the Penguins in the Atlantic Division rivals' first matchup since Pittsburgh won in six games in the opening round of last season's playoffs. That was the impetus for Philadelphia (3-0-0) to add goaltender Ray Emery and former MVP Chris Pronger to bolster its defense. Emery, who played last season with Russian club Atlant Moscow after a rocky five-year career with Ottawa, allowed one goal in two wins to start his Flyers career. It was a different story Tuesday against Washington as Mike Richards had a hat trick in a wild second period and Daniel Briere scored in overtime of a 6-5 victory. "We don't want to get involved in a track meet with the Pittsburghs and the Washingtons of the world," Flyers coach John Stevens said. "I think we're built just a little bit differently, but we do have an exciting offensive team and I think you saw that." Matt Carle assisted on all three of Richards' goals, and set a Flyers record for assists by a defenseman in a period with four. "It's not the ideal way to win, but every once in a while you have to find a way to win these games," said Richards, who had his second career hat trick. Pittsburgh (2-1-0) should be very familiar with Emery. He's 4-1-2 with a 2.76 goals-against average in his career against the Penguins, and helped Ottawa eliminate them in five games in the 2007 Eastern Conference quarterfinals by posting 2.01 GAA. Emery will have to try to help stop defending scoring champion Evgeni Malkin, who had four goals and five assists in last season's playoff series and captain Sidney Crosby, who had four goals and four assists. Malkin and Crosby were held in check Wednesday in a 3-0 home loss to Phoenix as Pittsburgh failed in a bid for its first 3-0 start since 1995. "We weren't able to get a whole lot going. There's no real excuse for it, we weren't good at all, but we've got to move on," said Crosby, whose 20 regular-season goals against the Flyers are the most he's had against any opponent. Malkin has also enjoyed his greatest success against Philadelphia with 13 goals and 18 assists in 21 games. Backup goaltender Brent Johnson made 22 saves in his Pittsburgh debut. Marc-Andre Fleury - 4-2-0 with a 2.39 GAA in the playoffs against Philadelphia during last season's Cup run - likely will be in goal as the Penguins start a four-game trip. The Flyers could be making lineup changes with center Blair Betts out at least a month due to a dislocated right shoulder. Rookie left wing James van Riemsdyk had his "bell rung" and his status is uncertain.
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    PA Stats Inc·Oct 7, 2009·Partner
    Coyotes-Penguins Preview Oct 7
    The Pittsburgh Penguins have picked up where they left off. Pittsburgh looks to open with three straight wins for the first time in 14 years Wednesday night when it hosts the Phoenix Coyotes. The Penguins carried the momentum from winning their third Stanley Cup into this season, beating the New York Rangers 3-2 on Friday. That came a night before Sidney Crosby scored the deciding goal in the shootout of a 4-3 road win over the New York Islanders. "This was not an easy week, and what could have been a mail-in when we say 'Oh, it's not our night' we put our nose down, went to work as a group and were able to scratch out two points," coach Dan Bylsma said Saturday after his team forced overtime when Ruslan Fedotenko scored with 3:49 to play. Pittsburgh is in position to win its first three games for the first time since matching the franchise record with seven straight victories to open the 1995 season. Crosby has been a big part of the current start, scoring a goal in each of the first two games while adding an assist Saturday. The 22-year-old center has 400 points in 292 games, making him the sixth fastest in history to reach that mark after Wayne Gretzky (197), Mario Lemieux (240), Peter Stastny (247), Eric Lindros (277) and Mike Bossy (283). The three-time All-Star has a goal and four assists in three games against the Coyotes. Crosby was held without a point in a 4-1 loss at Phoenix on Oct. 30 in the only meeting last season. These clubs haven't played at Mellon Arena since the Penguins won 3-1 on Dec. 3, 2007. The Coyotes are seeking a second consecutive 2-0-0 start. In 2008-09, they missed the playoffs for a team-record sixth consecutive season, and the franchise has been in turmoil since. Phoenix entered bankruptcy protection in May and Gretzky re-signed as coach nine days before the start of the season. Dave Tippett was named his replacement hours later. The Coyotes put that tumultuous offseason behind them and won 6-3 at Los Angeles on Saturday as Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves and Radim Vrbata scored twice. "I just talked to the other guys, I tell them, we can't do anything about it (so) we don't care," Bryzgalov said. "We just have to practice well and play well. "We don't have to worry about what goes on outside the hockey rink because we can't do anything. We can't buy a team or sell a team." The Coyotes' three-game road trip concludes Thursday against Buffalo. They had a Western Conference-low 30 points as the visitor last season, going 13-24-4 and winning consecutive games twice.
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