Florida coach Paul Maurice did not shake hands with the Carolina Hurricanes when the Eastern Conference final ended. And he asked Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour not to shake hands with the Panthers, either.
He has just said repeatedly throughout this postseason that he thinks the coaches shouldn’t be part of it — reiterating that after the Panthers eliminated the Hurricanes on Wednesday night, even going as far as convincing Brind’Amour to sit it out himself. In that moment, Maurice said, nothing should take the attention off the players on the two teams that just played a series.
“There’s something for me visually, with the camera on just the men who played, blocked shots, fought for each other, it’s end of one’s season, it’s excitement for the other,” Maurice said. “The last thing that a player on the Carolina Hurricanes deserves is 50 more guys in suits, they have no idea who they are and that’s not a negative. There’s something really kind of beautiful about just the camera on those men who played shaking hands. And we should respect that.”
The folks at Winnipeg Sports Talk had a somewhat (okay, much) more cynical take, largely based on the fact that Maurice has participated in handshake lines as recently as last year, is known for being good in front of the media, and managed to talk about how this is all about the players for a solid two minutes.
Their take, not mine. I’ve got a lot of affection for PoMo, but admittedly that is precisely because he’s so good in front of a microphone.
Edit: Timestamp of the conversation.