Florida Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice drew some attention at the end of the Eastern Conference Final.

After saying earlier in the postseason that he felt coaches shouldn’t be involved in the post-series handshake lines that take place during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Maurice followed through on his belief after the Panthers defeated the Carolina Hurricanes to advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

With cameras focused on the two head coaches, Maurice and the Hurricanes’ Rod Brind’Amour appeared to have an animated discussion while shaking hands between benches.

Afterwards, Murice gave an extended explanation as to why he did not want to join the players in the handshake line.

“It's a personal belief, and I really appreciate what (Brind’Amour) did, because I understand that there's a bit of a risk,” Maurice said. “The story goes like this. I don't believe that the coaches should shake players hands at the end (of a playoff series). I don't. There's this long list of people in suits and track suits, we had like 400 people on the house, and they're all really important to our group, but not one of them was in the game. There's something for me, visually, with the camera on, of just the men who played, who block shots, who fought for each other. It's the end of one season, it's excitement for the other. The last thing that a player on the Carolina Hurricanes deserves is 50 more guys in suits they have (to shake hands with). They have no idea who they are, and that's not a negative. There should be something really kind of beautiful about just the camera on those men who played, shaking hands. So we should respect that. We talked to Craig Berube on the ice in Toronto, and I figured, if I could sell it in Toronto, and he understood it because he's played, and (Brind’Amour) played, so they both kind of get it. I don't know where it changed. When I first got in the league, you would never go shake the players hands. Some coach wanted to get on camera, it's the only way I can figure out, right? And he was a, I don't know, maybe you want to shake Wayne Gretzky's hand or something. I don't know when it changed, but I don't think it's right. I think there's a really nice, kind of beautiful part of our game, just the players shake hands at the end. When you think of all the wars, all the great competitions on the ice, hard, going after each other, and yet they shake hands. That's special. They're not sending Christmas cards to each other. This is nasty out there. There’s something very special to it. So I appreciate the risk that he took, because he's concerned that somebody here is going to be upset that they didn't shake our players hands. I asked him not to, and he understood.”

Maurice had done the same with Toronto Head Coach Craig Berube after Florida’s second round victory over the Maple Leafs.

As for Brind’Amour, it seems after taking a little time to think about it, he isn’t in agreement with his former head coach.

First came his comments during Carolina’s postseason media availability, a couple days after the loss to Florida.

"Sitting back on it and reflecting, I've had some pretty impactful memories and moments in that line as a coach going through it," said Brind’Amour. "Moving forward, I think I'll probably go back to it, just because it's a sign of respect. That's the way I look at it. We're not out there on the ice battling, but we're right in there with these guy. (Maurice) won, so I kind of went, 'OK, I'm going to follow your lead in that,' but I do think it's important, to me anyway, to show respect to the players."

Earlier this week, now a couple weeks past handshake-gate, Brind’Amour appeared on the Cam and Strick Podcast with Cam Janssen and Andy Strickland.

When the topic came up, he expanded on his feelings and gave a little more insight into what happened with Maurice.

“He spelled it out, 100%,” Brind’Amour said. “’Hey listen, I don’t want to get in the line, it’s about the players,’ and I totally agree with that. Like I said, it is about the players. No shit. We’re just sitting back there, we don’t participate. I’m not out there blocking shots and getting my head beat in. I get it. So I get his perspective on that. When I think about it now, and I got asked about it at our end of the year presser, and I’m like you know what? I should’ve went in the line because that’s why I wanted to do. It’s just about showing respect. It has nothing to do with anything but, you know what? We’re in it with the players, I don’t care what you say. Even though I’m not out there, we invest in it. I care about these guys. It’s just about respect, that’s it.”

So yeah, moving forward, it sounds like Brind’Amour will be back in the handshake line with his players.

To each his own.

“I’m a grown man here,” he said. “I’ll make my own decisions moving forward, but I adhered to (Maurice) because he had won. I felt like they won, they had the right to do it, but now that I’ve taken a step back and had time to think about it, that’s not going to happen again.”

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Photo caption: Feb 4, 2023; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Metropolitan Division coach Rod Brind'Amour of the Carolina Hurricanes talks to the media before the 2023 NHL All-Star Game at FLA Live Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)