PAUL THE PROPHET? JETS MORRISSEY, DEMELO HOPE SO
Paul Maurice may not coach the Winnipeg Jets anymore, but he found one more way to get the attention of his former players.
Immediately after his Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup on Monday, Maurice told a national television audience that if he could have one more thing, “it would be for the Winnipeg Jets to win the next Stanley Cup.”
A set of ears immediately perked up in front of a big screen in Calgary.
“Appreciative of the words,” Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey said. “I hope it’s more of a prophecy. That would be fantastic. I can echo that as a player and all our Jets faithful, we hope he’s some kind of a prophet and maybe that comes true.”
Morrissey says he wasn’t overly surprised to hear his old coach throwing some Florida sunshine Winnipeg’s way.
After being out of the NHL for a year, coaching in the Russia-based KHL, Maurice spent most of nine seasons with the Jets and put down roots in the Manitoba capital.
His best year saw the Jets reach the conference final in 2018.
Four seasons later, he shocked the hockey world by resigning in December. He took the job with Florida the following summer – and the rest is history.
“He had echoed many times his admiration for getting his chance back in the NHL for the Jets,” Morrissey said. “Maybe that was something he thought he might not get again. And if he didn’t get that position with Winnipeg, who knows if all of that would have ended up transpiring.”
Second only to Scotty Bowman in NHL games coached, it took Maurice 26 seasons, five different teams – one of them twice – and three trips to the Cup Final to win the thing.
Even this one seemed destined to slip through his hands, as the Panthers blew a 3-0 series lead to Edmonton before escaping with a 2-1 victory in Game 7.
Watching his first NHL coach shed decades of disappointment while lifting that storied trophy, Morrissey could see what it meant.
“To finally win it and achieve that ultimate goal must have been an amazing feeling, and something that he’s earned.” the 29-year-old said. “I’m sure he’s thinking, ‘Am I going to be able to ever get this achieved?’ And to actually be able to finally get that done is just unreal.”
As thrilled as he was for Maurice, assistant coach Jamie Kompon and former Jets teammates Dmitry Kulikov and Kevin Stenlund, Morrissey was gutted for some good friends on the Oilers side.
Former junior teammate Leon Draisaitl is at the top of that list.
“It is tough to see those guys go through that heartbreak, and just imagine what that’s like to come that close,” he said. “It feels like an eternity ago that we were finished in the first round, so that’s a long time of competing and grinding, playing through injury and ups and downs, to come that close and lose.
“That’s the story of the Finals. One way elation, one way heartbreak.”
In London, Ont., Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo had to turn the TV off before Maurice’s Winnipeg shout-out.
“I have a really hard time watching the Stanley Cup presentation. Because it’s not my team,” DeMelo said, chuckling. “I have a tough time watching without getting kind of mad.”
It wasn’t long, though, before DeMelo saw his former coach’s comments.
“A very classy message,” the 31-year-old said. “We’re on the same page there. Wish we’d all got to win together, in Winnipeg. That was the dream. But a piece of him will always stay in Winnipeg. He would always stand in front of the mic and say how great Winnipeg was when people weren’t saying that.
“Him leaving, I’m sure it was not an easy decision. I think he understood what winning in Winnipeg would have been like… it would be a unique experience.”
Some players felt abandoned when Maurice walked out on the Jets.
What was left of the team failed to make the playoffs under interim coach Dave Lowry.
But neither Morrissey nor DeMelo let that dampen their enthusiasm for seeing him raise the Cup.
“No ill will,” DeMelo said. “Things happen, it’s a business, he did what he felt was right in the moment and obviously was able to find another gig that worked better for him at that time. He’s been around the game a long time. He’s a good person.
“It’s hard to feel bad for somebody who’s grinded that hard and finally got the win.”
Like Morrissey, DeMelo felt for the Oilers and players like Cody Ceci, his former teammate in Ottawa.
“Because they’re at the other end of the spectrum,” is how DeMelo put it. “They gave everything they could. They pushed and pushed and they were really right there. That Game 7 was, oh man, that was close. The longer you go, the harder it hurts. They had a fantastic season in Edmonton after a tough start to the year. A lot of resiliency.
“A good lesson for everybody in this league, from both teams, on how to get there and how to win.”
That’s something Morrissey takes from it, too: motivation.
“It just makes you want to be in that position as well,” he said. “It’s a pretty exclusive club.”
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2024-06-26T02:37:46Z dg43tfdfdgfd