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Punching a ticket to the postseason is typically a reason to celebrate. But when the Florida Panthers clinched their spot in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, head coach Paul Maurice’s mood was anything but celebratory.
As first reported by Panthers writer Colby Guy and confirmed by several other sources, Florida’s bench boss was fuming during his postgame media availability following his team’s 3-2 loss to the New York Islanders on March 28, despite the team clinching its fifth straight playoff berth.
“Paul Maurice refused to answer any questions regarding the Panthers clinching a playoff spot,” Guy posted on X. “He was not pleased with tonight’s effort. ‘Today is free quote [expletive] day. Take whatever you think I might say and use it. I won’t [expletive] about it.'”
The Panthers punched their ticket to the playoffs with the Detroit Red Wings’ regulation loss to the Carolina Hurricanes that same night. Still, Maurice was displeased with his team’s effort against a desperate Islanders team still fighting for a spot in the postseason.
The Panthers did not post video of Maurice’s media availability to their team site, but NHL.com’s Amalie Benjamin published a story on Friday morning containing more context and additional quotes from the Panthers’ coach.
“I appreciate the questions and I’m just a grumpy old man,” Maurice told Benjamin. “So I’ll answer them all them all tomorrow. I don’t feel like talking about good things right now.”
Panthers Control Their Own Destiny Down the Stretch This Season
The Panthers have struggled of late, winning just one of their last seven games and suffering two shutouts during that span. However, they are still just two points behind the Boston Bruins for first place in the Atlantic Division.
This will be the fifth straight year that the Panthers are headed to the postseason and the second straight year under Maurice. In his first season behind the Florida bench last year, the Panthers made the playoffs as a Wild Card team and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost in five games to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Last season, the Panthers clinched their spot in the playoffs on April 11 with just one game remaining in their regular season schedule. This season, they have nine games left, and their first-round opponent is still to be determined.
“Last year it came before the last game of the season, so now we have a little breathing room here,” Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov told reporters after Thursday’s loss to the Islanders. “But of course, we know we have a lot of work to do and we need to be a little better, better than the last few games, for sure.”
Three More Teams Clinch Postseason Berths as Stanley Cup Playoff Picture Takes Shape
The Panthers joined the Boston Bruins, New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes as the only teams in the Eastern Conference to book their tickets to the postseason. The Western Conference’s Dallas Stars also clinched their postseason spot on Thursday with a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. It marked the first time that four teams clinched a postseason berth on the same day since the Rangers, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks and Edmonton Oilers did so exactly seven years ago.
After hosting the Detroit Red Wings, who sit just two points out of the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, the Panthers will embark on a four-game road trip to Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Boston before returning home.
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