Not exactly - I always found his dry humour pretty awesome. There's nothing wrong with Paul Maurice on a personal level, but . . .

Last year the Florida Panthers, under Andrew Brunette, had the 17th best season in NHL history (by points percentage). They just suddenly and surprisingly chose to replace him with Paul Maurice, which I find insane. Maurice has been coaching since 1995, and has never won a cup, having made the finals once in his 25 years of playoff appearances. What is it about him that supercedes Brunette - who has coached one season in his life and one of the best in history?

I don't know how much input Brunette has into the Devils system, but after adding Brunette to the mix, they have gone from among the worst in the league (.348) to 2nd in the league with an .826 mark.

Could be coincidence. Could be that someone in need of a coach, should be knocking on his door first.
- Monkeypunk

I've never liked Paul Maurice as a coach.

He had his best moments in Carolina... and then underperformed pretty much everywhere else.

I've never liked Paul Maurice as a coach.

He had his best moments in Carolina... and then underperformed pretty much everywhere else.
- Scabeh

I love Maurice in Florida...it's a fantastic idea...and perfect timing.....with the Habs having their 1st round pick

I love Maurice in Florida...it's a fantastic idea...and perfect timing.....with the Habs having their 1st round pick
- Symba007

Mike Augello: How Long Can The Makeshift Top-Four Hold Up?; Leafs vs. Wings
- mikeinbuffalo

indeed👍

how long can they hold up before hole’s fupas return?🤦🏿‍♂️

what a (frank)ing joke🤦‍♂️

edit:nice alliteration👍🏿

I love Maurice in Florida...it's a fantastic idea...and perfect timing.....with the Habs having their 1st round pick
- Symba007

Unprotected first round pick too.

I've never liked Paul Maurice as a coach.

He had his best moments in Carolina... and then underperformed pretty much everywhere else.
- Scabeh

He had a great season in Winnipeg - everything just came together at the right time. You had young Laine, Connor, Trouba, Morrissey - I think Scheifele was still under 25, too - propped up by Byfuglien, who was probably around 30 and then a great grinding group of Copp, Lowry and Armia with a Vezina calibre Hellebuyck in net. I mean most coaches should have had success with that group, but I know they won over 50. There was talk of that team being a cup contender, and I think it was right to do so.

But I agree with you - I think he's had a couple of good seasons out of like 30 coaching - and that's a lot of runaway for no success.

Unprotected first round pick too.



- Scabeh

Going all in last year is not looking so good on them....

Going all in last year is not looking so good on them....
- Aaron_85

that's OK, they can rebound next year once they are healthy. No need to push themselves too much this year...it's OK if they finish just outside of the playoffs picture.

Because he was perpetually injured.
- Atomic Wedgie

The conflict between Murray and DJ Smith was pretty much untenable. I remember that the Sens blogger wrote about it a lot. Murray thought that Smith never had his back; that he’d praise Zaitsev and Josh Brown and criticize Murray when Murray felt those two D had hung him out to dry numerous times. Apparently, Smith wouldn’t talk to Murray and only communicated through the goalie coach.

Murray was relearning how he played the position while in Ottawa and by the end was playing well. The injuries were clearly an issue but Dorion sent him to Bellville at one point to get his game together but really in the hope that he’d be picked up. Dorion is still backing Smith but he seems pretty much hated on the Sens thread.

And it doesn’t hurt that the Leafs have the guy who’s been Murray’s personal goalie coach since he was 10 on staff and who Dubas brought into the Soo to help turn Murray around and who the Pens hired as well did the same thing with.

The conflict between Murray and DJ Smith was pretty much untenable. I remember that the Sens blogger wrote about it a lot. Murray thought that Smith never had his back; that he’d praise Zaitsev and Josh Brown and criticize Murray when Murray felt those two D had hung him out to dry numerous times. Apparently, Smith wouldn’t talk to Murray and only communicated through the goalie coach.

Murray was relearning how he played the position while in Ottawa and by the end was playing well. The injuries were clearly an issue but Dorion sent him to Bellville at one point to get his game together but really in the hope that he’d be picked up. Dorion is still backing Smith but he seems pretty much hated on the Sens thread.

And it doesn’t hurt that the Leafs have the guy who’s been Murray’s personal goalie coach since he was 10 on staff and who Dubas brought into the Soo to help turn Murray around and who the Pens hired as well did the same thing with.
- Canada Cup

If they make another retro reverse jersey, the Leafs should just wear the Soo Greyhounds one.

If they make another retro reverse jersey, the Leafs should just wear the Soo Greyhounds one.
- Scabeh

is that why the Leafs are soo soo in the playoffs under Dubas?

that's OK, they can rebound next year once they are healthy. No need to push themselves too much this year...it's OK if they finish just outside of the playoffs picture.
- Symba007

I like how you're not being greedy hoping for a fall from disgrace and a top 5 pick. Just outside the playoffs. Nice!

Borje patch (but not sweaters it seems) being sold. Game worn jerseys for tomorrow’s game will be auctioned. All proceeds to go to ALS charity

I like how you're not being greedy hoping for a fall from disgrace and a top 5 pick. Just outside the playoffs. Nice!
- Aaron_85

Just imagine getting a top 15 pick for 2 months of Ben Chiarot.

I like how you're not being greedy hoping for a fall from disgrace and a top 5 pick. Just outside the playoffs. Nice!
- Aaron_85

don't want to jinx it either

is that why the Leafs are soo soo in the playoffs under Dubas?
- Symba007

That’s tremendously funny cause but pretty subtle. You see Dubas used to be GM of the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds. Sheldon Keefe was the coach. Matt Murray was a goalie there and lots of Leaf players have played there. Leafs haven’t won the Cup under Dubas so the record is only so-so, making a soo-soo a bit of a play on words. Well done Habs fan.

Not exactly - I always found his dry humour pretty awesome. There's nothing wrong with Paul Maurice on a personal level, but . . .

Last year the Florida Panthers, under Andrew Brunette, had the 17th best season in NHL history (by points percentage). They just suddenly and surprisingly chose to replace him with Paul Maurice, which I find insane. Maurice has been coaching since 1995, and has never won a cup, having made the finals once in his 25 years of playoff appearances. What is it about him that supercedes Brunette - who has coached one season in his life and one of the best in history?

I don't know how much input Brunette has into the Devils system, but after adding Brunette to the mix, they have gone from among the worst in the league (.348) to 2nd in the league with an .826 mark.

Could be coincidence. Could be that someone in need of a coach, should be knocking on his door first.
- Monkeypunk

It truly begs the question of how much does a coach truly influence a team's production. There's been some interesting articles out there that tackle this very question...of which I am far too lazy to provide.

Just imagine getting a top 15 pick for 2 months of Ben Chiarot.

- Scabeh

Did Zito think he was Jeff Finger or something?

Just imagine getting a top 15 pick for 2 months of Ben Chiarot.

- Scabeh

Dorion giving Leafs a 3rd (basically a second) and 25% of his salary for taking Murray as part of the Summer of the Sens. Best part - Leafs fans were livid

The conflict between Murray and DJ Smith was pretty much untenable. I remember that the Sens blogger wrote about it a lot. Murray thought that Smith never had his back; that he’d praise Zaitsev and Josh Brown and criticize Murray when Murray felt those two D had hung him out to dry numerous times. Apparently, Smith wouldn’t talk to Murray and only communicated through the goalie coach.

Murray was relearning how he played the position while in Ottawa and by the end was playing well. The injuries were clearly an issue but Dorion sent him to Bellville at one point to get his game together but really in the hope that he’d be picked up. Dorion is still backing Smith but he seems pretty much hated on the Sens thread.

And it doesn’t hurt that the Leafs have the guy who’s been Murray’s personal goalie coach since he was 10 on staff and who Dubas brought into the Soo to help turn Murray around and who the Pens hired as well did the same thing with.
- Canada Cup

I'm not going to argue with his success here so far, but I was concerned when we traded for Murray because Jon Elkin has been a Leafs goalie consultant since 2018. I was concerned there was bias influenced by Elkin's personal success as the result of Murray's performance in Pittsburgh, as opposed to the other way around.

I don't think Elkin ever worked with the Penguins organization - but he did work with Murray independently in the summer. He was a goalie coach for the Soo in 2013, so he had Murray and Halverson there. He was a goalie coach in Calgary back in 1999 - 2002 - where he had Giguere, Turek and Vernon, and then he was a goalie coach for the Coyotes from 2015 - 2018, where he had Mike Smith, Domingue, Raanta and Kuemper.

Overall he had some successes as a goalie coach, and some not so successes - as pretty much they all do.

I had forgotten about the issues with DJ Smith last year, but yeah - I recall that now that you mention it.

Did Zito think he was Jeff Finger or something?
- Aaron_85

All the information we have points to maybe.

I'm not going to argue with his success here so far, but I was concerned when we traded for Murray because Jon Elkin has been a Leafs goalie consultant since 2018. I was concerned there was bias influenced by Elkin's personal success as the result of Murray's performance in Pittsburgh, as opposed to the other way around.

I don't think Elkin ever worked with the Penguins organization - but he did work with Murray independently in the summer. He was a goalie coach for the Soo in 2013, so he had Murray and Halverson there. He was a goalie coach in Calgary back in 1999 - 2002 - where he had Giguere, Turek and Vernon, and then he was a goalie coach for the Coyotes from 2015 - 2018, where he had Mike Smith, Domingue, Raanta and Kuemper.

Overall he had some successes as a goalie coach, and some not so successes - as pretty much they all do.

I had forgotten about the issues with DJ Smith last year, but yeah - I recall that now that you mention it.
- Monkeypunk

The thing is that Elkin isn’t the goalie coach, Sanford is. Elkin is in charge of development or something. I think the point is that Sanford is doing the technical stuff and Elkin is keeping him sane/smoothing waters/part of the mix, etc. I’m happy with that division of responsibilities.

That’s tremendously funny cause but pretty subtle. You see Dubas used to be GM of the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds. Sheldon Keefe was the coach. Matt Murray was a goalie there and lots of Leaf players have played there. Leafs haven’t won the Cup under Dubas so the record is only so-so, making a soo-soo a bit of a play on words. Well done Habs fan.
- Canada Cup

I don't get it.

Dorion giving Leafs a 3rd (basically a second) and 25% of his salary for taking Murray as part of the Summer of the Sens. Best part - Leafs fans were livid
- Canada Cup

Let's keep in mind that he's played 7 games. The season is 24 games old. He has the rest of this year and then next year to go. He has never posted back-to-back good seasons where he has played more than 20 games (which is just a fancy way of my excluding his first year where he played 13). I would like nothing more than for Matt Murray to be hugely and routinely successful here - because like most people here, I'm a Leaf fan and it would be awesome.

But that trade - the acquisition of Matt Murray with 25% salary retention with a 3rd and a 7th for nothing - was still technically an overpayment. Dorion had said that he wasn't willing to retain more than he would have paid in a buyout. A buyout of Matt Murray ($15m remaining salary - no bonus money) @ 66.7% over twice the remainder of the contract (2 years remaining) is $2.5m per for 4 years. Ottawa is retaining $1.56m - but Dorion was probably willing to go up to $2m, if not more. Murray also reportedly was quite willing to sign with Toronto, so making them buy Murray out and then working out a 2 year deal with him on a show-me contract while Ottawa has to pay him $2.5m for 4 years would have also been favourable.

I said then that I didn't like the trade and what we're paying for Matt Murray, and I say that now - it's not how he's performing - it's what we should be paying him based on his value at the time of acquisition.

Let's keep in mind that he's played 7 games. The season is 24 games old. He has the rest of this year and then next year to go. He has never posted back-to-back good seasons where he has played more than 20 games (which is just a fancy way of my excluding his first year where he played 13). I would like nothing more than for Matt Murray to be hugely and routinely successful here - because like most people here, I'm a Leaf fan and it would be awesome.

But that trade - the acquisition of Matt Murray with 25% salary retention with a 3rd and a 7th for nothing - was still technically an overpayment. Dorion had said that he wasn't willing to retain more than he would have paid in a buyout. A buyout of Matt Murray ($15m remaining salary - no bonus money) @ 66.7% over twice the remainder of the contract (2 years remaining) is $2.5m per for 4 years. Ottawa is retaining $1.56m - but Dorion was probably willing to go up to $2m, if not more. Murray also reportedly was quite willing to sign with Toronto, so making them buy Murray out and then working out a 2 year deal with him on a show-me contract while Ottawa has to pay him $2.5m for 4 years would have also been favourable.

I said then that I didn't like the trade and what we're paying for Matt Murray, and I say that now - it's not how he's performing - it's what we should be paying him based on his value at the time of acquisition.
- Monkeypunk

It feels like he's played more games.