SouthernHockeyChick
04-02-2003, 10:44 AM
Maurice the right choice
By PAT HICKEY
Montreal Gazette
When it comes to straight shooters, they don't come much straighter than Carolina Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice, who has the distinction of being both the youngest coach in the NHL and the current coach with the longest tenure with the same team.
After reaching the Stanley Cup final last season, the Hurricanes have slumped this season and are heading into the final week of the season with the worst record in the NHL. Maurice could blame the problem on a string of injuries, but he said yesterday that the team's slide began long before the injuries.
"We were five games above .500 in the beginning of December and we lost a game in Florida and suddenly we had lost four in a row," said the 36-year-old Maurice, who is in his eighth NHL season as the Hurricanes coach.
The Carolina lineup last night was generously laced with AHL players after a series of injuries that saw Eric Cole, Kevin Weekes, Patrick DesRochers, Jan Hlavac, Jeff Heerema, Rod Brind'Amour, Pavel Brendl and Jaroslav Svoboda either break bones or require surgery.
"It got so bad guys were refusing call-ups," said Maurice.
As for his own security, Maurice said: "I think when you reach the (Stanley Cup) final or you have a long-term contract, you buy some time, but this management has a good idea of what's happening with the team."
What Maurice is really saying is that the management in Carolina feels they made the right choice when they hired him and that's why he has lasted as long as he has.
Wow. And we though we were joking about them refusing call-ups!
By PAT HICKEY
Montreal Gazette
When it comes to straight shooters, they don't come much straighter than Carolina Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice, who has the distinction of being both the youngest coach in the NHL and the current coach with the longest tenure with the same team.
After reaching the Stanley Cup final last season, the Hurricanes have slumped this season and are heading into the final week of the season with the worst record in the NHL. Maurice could blame the problem on a string of injuries, but he said yesterday that the team's slide began long before the injuries.
"We were five games above .500 in the beginning of December and we lost a game in Florida and suddenly we had lost four in a row," said the 36-year-old Maurice, who is in his eighth NHL season as the Hurricanes coach.
The Carolina lineup last night was generously laced with AHL players after a series of injuries that saw Eric Cole, Kevin Weekes, Patrick DesRochers, Jan Hlavac, Jeff Heerema, Rod Brind'Amour, Pavel Brendl and Jaroslav Svoboda either break bones or require surgery.
"It got so bad guys were refusing call-ups," said Maurice.
As for his own security, Maurice said: "I think when you reach the (Stanley Cup) final or you have a long-term contract, you buy some time, but this management has a good idea of what's happening with the team."
What Maurice is really saying is that the management in Carolina feels they made the right choice when they hired him and that's why he has lasted as long as he has.
Wow. And we though we were joking about them refusing call-ups!