One Stanley Cup ring hasn't changed Paul Maurice, who coached the Panthers to a repeat performance

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Paul Maurice is not the same person or coach he was when he got his first job in the NHL at 28 years old in the mid-1990s with the Hartford Whalers. He followed that organization to Carolina, went to Toronto, returned to Carolina and spent nearly a decade in Winnipeg.

The culmination of those three decades came last year when he coached the Florida Panthers to the Stanley Cup. Now the 18th coach in NHL history to win it back to back after the Panthers defeated Edmonton in six games in the final, Maurice is the same guy his players have gotten to know and follow since he arrived in the summer of 2022.

“I don’t think he’s changed since winning,” playoff leading goal-scorer Sam Bennett said. "He’s the same. He can be hard on us. He’s hard on us when he needs to be, and then he’s relaxed with us when he knows that we need to, so I think he really does have a good feel for what our team needs. We all have the utmost respect for him.”

Maurice, now 58, thought that was a nice thing to say. But what has allowed him to earn that respect from within the locker room?

Unsurprisingly, his words.

“If you walk into the room and you just tell the truth, whether they want to hear it or not but it’s the truth, and over time you could look back and say, ‘What that person told me was the truth,’ you’ll have respect for that,” Maurice said. "So, I work hard at trying to find the truth every day and then just telling it as simply as I can with the occasional joke slipped in. Most times I’m the only one that thinks it’s funny.”

It's a different kind of funny that Maurice almost stopped coaching after stepping away from the Jets in 2022.

“I had four of the best fishing days of my life in June,” Maurice said after lifting and kissing the Stanley Cup again. “And then on June 4, my phone rings and it’s a number I don’t know so I don’t answer it. Why would I? And then I get this really profane text from Tripp Tracy, I believe, ‘Answer your phone’ with other words mixed in. And it was Bill Zito.”

Maurice returned the call, took the job and the rest is Florida hockey history.

The Panthers have won 11 of 12 series since Maurice took over. Not once was he close to the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year, but that's a regular-season trophy, and he has done nothing but win in the playoffs.

“He really has control of this team,” Bennett said. “The team’s really just bought into the culture that he’s implemented into this team, and we’re all willing to do whatever it takes and play that hard style that he keeps preaching to us night in and night out and we’ve all just bought into that over the years.”

A.J. Greer, one of several additions who weren't part of the 2024 run, said Maurice is a unique combination of a motivator who is also analytical and technical.

“He’s kind of just a complete package of being able to motivate us and elevate our games mentally,” Greer said. “He’s also a guy that can really translate prior games into a meeting and point out what we need to be better at. He sees the game incredibly well."

Zito credits Maurice and his staff, along with ownership and the lifestyle in South Florida, for making the Panthers an attractive destination for free agents and players with no-trade clauses who can choose where to go.

“He’s a very bright man,” Zito said. “He’s a teacher, he’s a coach. He’ll push, he’ll pull, he’ll harp. But you don’t want to disappoint him. His character is so high that, working with him, he makes you want to be better because you don’t want to disappoint him.”

There is good reason for that beyond Maurice's affable personality. From Bennett to Niko Mikkola, Nate Schmidt and many, many others, players who were either adrift in their careers or looking to get on track have thrived playing for him.

“They give you a blue print of how he wants you to play, and he molds that around your strengths as a player and he doesn’t ask you to do more than what you should be doing,” said Schmidt, who got a glimpse into Maurice playing one season for him in Winnipeg. "It’s not the easiest system just to jump into, but he expects a certain level out of each guy and if you give that to him, there’s no problem. And that’s something that I find it was freeing for me, and once you kind of settle into how he wants you to play and into what kind of role he wants you to be in, it takes a lot of the pressure off.”

The past several months has been about the pressure of defending a title, but Maurice has enjoyed this run more, acknowledging “you’re allowed to enjoy it a little bit more” with your name already etched in hockey's hallowed trophy.

The win was Maurice’s 86th in the playoffs, matching Ken Hitchcock — who coached Dallas to win a Cup in 1999 — for 13th on the career list.

The game Tuesday night was Maurice's 2,091st game as a head coach in the NHL, more than anyone except nine-time Stanley Cup-winner Scotty Bowman. He has some time to catch up to that record, but Maurice has not been at a loss for words going for his second as his popularity among players grows.

“I think you guys know, too: He’s got a lot of things to say," center Anton Lundell said. "But it’s fun to be here, and as a group we like him.”

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice hugs defenseman Uvis Balinskis (26) after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Vincent Viola, owner of the Florida Panthers, left, speaks to head coach Paul Maurice after the team defeated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice and his wife Michelle celebrate after winning the Stanley Cup in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final against the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice kisses the Stanley Cup trophy after defeating the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Tuesday, June 17, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice speaks to the media during a news conference at the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers' head coach Paul Maurice speaks during a news conference for the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals. Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Edmonton, Alberta. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Florida Panthers' general manager Bill Zito, left, and head coach Paul Maurice speak to media during a news conference, Tuesday, June 3, 2025, in Edmonton, Alberta, ahead of Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup final series against the Edmonton Oilers. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Buffalo Bills fans arrived early and lingered long after the game ended to bid what could be farewell to their long-time home stadium filled with 53 years of memories — and often piles of snow.

After singing along together to The Killers' “Mr. Brightside” in the closing minutes of a 35-8 victory against the New York Jets, most everyone in the crowd of 70,944 remained in their seats to bask in the glow of fireworks as Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World” played over the stadium speakers.

Several players stopped in the end zone to watch a retrospective video, with the Buffalo-based Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” as the soundtrack while fans recorded selfie videos of the celebratory scene. Offensive lineman Alec Anderson even jumped into the crowd to pose for pictures before leaving the field.

With the Bills (12-5), the AFC's 6th seed, opening the playoffs at Jacksonville in the wild-card round next week, there's but a slim chance they'll play at their old home again. Next season, Buffalo is set to move into its new $1.2 billion facility being built across the street.

The farewell game evoked “a lifetime of memories,” said Therese Forton-Barnes, selected the team’s Fan of the Year, before the Bills kicked of their regular-season finale. “In our culture that we know and love, we can bond together from that experience. Our love for this team, our love for this city, have branched from those roots.”

Forton-Barnes, a past president of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, attended Bills games as a child at the old War Memorial Stadium in downtown Buffalo, colloquially known as “The Rockpile.” She has been a season ticket holder since Jim Kelly joined the Bills in 1986 at what was then Rich Stadium, later renamed for the team’s founding owner Ralph Wilson, and then corporate sponsors New Era and Highmark.

“I’ve been to over 350 games,” she said. “Today we’re here to cherish and celebrate the past, present and future. We have so many memories that you can’t erase at Rich Stadium, The Ralph, and now Highmark. Forever we will hold these memories when we move across the street.”

There was a celebratory mood to the day, with fans arriving early. Cars lined Abbott Road some 90 minutes before the stadium lots opened for a game the Bills rested most of their starters, with a brisk wind blowing in off of nearby Lake Erie and with temperatures dipping into the low 20s.

And most were in their seats when Bills owner Terry Pegula thanked fans and stadium workers in a pregame address.

With Buffalo leading 21-0 at halftime, many fans stayed in their seats as Kelly and fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Andre Reed addressed them from the field, and the team played a video message from 100-year-old Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy.

“The fans have been unbelievable,” said Jack Hofstetter, a ticket-taker since the stadium opened in 1973 who was presented with Super Bowl tickets before Sunday’s game by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield. “I was a kid making 8 bucks a game back in those days. I got to see all the sports, ushering in the stadium and taking tickets later on. All the memories, it’s been fantastic.”

Bud Light commemorated the stadium finale and Bills fan culture with the release of a special-edition beer brewed with melted snow shoveled out of the stadium earlier this season.

In what has become a winter tradition at the stadium, fans were hired to clear the stands after a lake-effect storm dropped more than a foot of snow on the region this week.

The few remaining shovelers were still present clearing the pathways and end zone stands of snow some five hours before kickoff. The new stadium won’t require as many shovelers, with the field heated and with more than two-thirds of the 60,000-plus seats covered by a curved roof overhang.

Fears of fans rushing the field were abated with large contingent of security personnel and backed by New York State troopers began lining the field during the final 2-minute warning.

Fans stayed in the stands, singing along to the music, with many lingering to take one last glimpse inside the stadium where the scoreboard broadcast one last message:

“Thank You, Bills Mafia.”

AP Sports Writer John Wawrow contributed.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Fans watch a ceremony after the Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets in the Bills' final regular-season NFL football home game in Highmark Stadium Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Buffalo Bills cornerback Tre'Davious White (27) remains on the field to watch a tribute video after the Bills beat the New York Jets in the Bills' final regular-season NFL football home game in Highmark Stadium Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y.(AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Fans watch a ceremony after the Buffalo Bills beat the New York Jets in the Bills' final regular-season NFL football home game in Highmark Stadium Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)

Fans celebrate after the Buffalo Bills scored a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Fans celebrate and throw snow in the stands after an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Aga Deters, right, and her husband Fred Deters, walk near Highmark Stadium before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Michael Wygant shoves snow from a tunnel before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Buffalo Bills offensive tackle Alec Anderson (70) spikes the ball after running back Ty Johnson scored a touchdown against the New York Jets in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

FILE - The existing Highmark Stadium, foreground, frames the construction on the new Highmark Stadium, upper right, which is scheduled to open with the 2026 season, shown before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New England Patriots, Oct. 5, 2025, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Salt crew member Jim Earl sprinkles salt in the upper deck before an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets at Highmark Stadium, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)