Before Paul Maurice stood one win away from the Stanley Cup, he was a 28-year-old getting his head coaching start in the NHL in 1995. Check out THN's report from the time.
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice is one win away from winning his first-ever Stanley Cup.
But back in 1995, he was a 28-year-old kicking off his NHL head coaching career.
In this feature story from The Hockey News’ Nov. 24, 1995, edition (Volume 49, Issue 11), contributing writer Michael Arace profiled Maurice as he took over the Hartford Whalers job and became the second-youngest coach in the NHL's Modern Era. (Eddie Gerard, Frank Heffernan and Lionel Conacher are also credited with coaching debuts at a younger age than Maurice, but they were player-coaches at the time.)
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Maurice took over the Whalers from veteran Paul Holmgren for his first NHL coaching job, but Whalers GM Jim Rutherford cautioned against believing Maurice would fix all that ailed the team.
“Maybe the team isn’t as good as we think,” Rutherford told Arace. “But I’ll stick to my guns. I think this is a very good team. I think it has lacked discipline and work ethic and that has got to change. We know how Paul (Maurice) works. We know how to work together.”
Here's what it was like for Maurice almost 30 years before being where he is now, with the second-most games coached in NHL history and looking for his first championship.
HOLMGREN OUT, MAURICE IN AS NHL’S YOUNGEST COACH
Vol. 49, No. 11, Nov. 24, 1995
By Michael Arace
The morning after Paul Maurice, 28, made his debut as the second-youngest coach in NHL history, The Hartford Courant ran an editorial cartoon which summarized the shock value of the event.
The cartoon depicts a policeman yanking a little kid, who can barely see over the boards, off the Whalers’ bench. One of the players is saying: “It’s OK if he sits there, officer. He’s the coach.”
Maurice is pursuing an autographed copy to frame and send home to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.
“My parents would get a big kick out of that,” he said.
Perhaps humor will save him. It appears nothing could save Paul Holmgren, who had a 54-93-14 record in two coaching stints with the team and was replaced by Maurice Nov. 6.
Holmgren’s fate in Hartford was sealed in the arena where he was granted hero status as a player. At the Spectrum in Philadelphia, the Whalers lost to the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1 Nov. 5.
Whalers’ owner Peter Karmanos happened to be there to witness the debacle.
The next day, president-GM Jim Rutherford elevated Maurice, a 10-year veteran of Karmanos’ Compuware junior hockey organization. Rutherford said Jacques Demers, Barry Melrose and Whalers’ assistant coach Ted Sator, who has head coaching experience at the NHL, were never seriously considered.
“Maybe the team isn’t as good as we think,” Rutherford said. “But I’ll stick to my guns. I think this is a very good team. I think it has lacked discipline and work ethic and that has got to change. We know how Paul (Maurice) works. We know how to work together.”
A 1-6-0 skid left the Whalers 5-6-1 when Holmgren got fired. The team had been outscored 25-4 in the six losses.
Rutherford said, “shame on me, shame on the players” for putting a well-liked and respected man such as Holmgren in a position to be fired.
“Part of the problem was Holmgren was a fiery player with an intense work ethic and he thought we would play the same way he did,” said goaltender Sean Burke. “He never really pushed guys by skating us into the ground after bad losses. He gave us the responsibility to work hard and we didn’t handle it.”
When asked if he would have done anything differently, Holmgren said, “I don’t think so. As I look back now, I did the best I could and obviously I wasn’t getting the job done and they felt they had to make a change. I respect that. I knew going in, and I still know that part of the business of hockey is (getting fired).”
Holmgren was not offered another job within the organization. He will collect on the last year of his contract, worth $300,000, while commuting to various NHL and American League arenas to keep tabs on personnel.
“I love coaching,” he said, “and I want to coach again.”
NOTEBOOK: At 28, Paul Maurice is the youngest coach currently working in the NHL, National Basketball Association, National Football League and Major League Baseball. The youngest in NHL history is Gary Green, who was 26 when he took over the Washington Capitals in November, 1979. “I’ve never really looked at my age as a problem for me,” said Maurice, who, in his second season with the team, took the Detroit Jr. Red Wings to the Memorial Cup final last season… Captain Brendan Shanahan is thinking seriously of taking up to a month or more to give the tom ligament in his left wrist a chance to heal. His frustration level has risen since he jammed the hand on opening night, Oct. 7. He did not score his first goal until Nov. 4.
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