"Needed some profanity"- Paul Maurice addresses his emotional outburst at Florida Panthers players on bench
Florida Panthers coach Paul Maurice had quite an emotional outburst in Game 5 against the Boston Bruins. Maurice wasn't impressed with how his players were performing and made sure to let them know about it.
During a timeout, he gathered all the Panthers players in front of him and became very vocal. He even pointed out the scoreboard a couple of times, clearly expressing his dissatisfaction with their performance in the first period of the game.
Paul Maurice's emotional outburst and passionate pep talk had the desired effect on the Panthers as they managed to score a goal and tie the game 1-1 in the second period.
During the post-media interaction, Maurice explained that he wasn't mad at his players on the bench. He understood the challenges they were facing and felt that they needed a little bit of "profanity" in their lives.
Paul Maurice humorously remarked that while he may not excel in many things, he certainly knows how to deliver some colorful language (via The Athletic's Michael Russo on X/Twitter):
"I don’t know the exact words of the message. I wasn’t mad at them. I understood what they were going through. I just thought they needed some profanity in their life, and I brought some. I don’t excel in a lot of things in life, but f**k me, am I good at that?"
Game 5 ended with the Florida Panthers losing 2-1 at home in Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night. It was a crucial game for the Boston Bruins, who staved off elimination from the playoffs.
Paul Maurice on Sam Bennett's collision with Brad Marchand
There was a collision between Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand during Game 3 of the series which resulted in Marchand suffering an upper-body injury that ultimately caused him to miss Games 4 and 5.
The collision between the two players involved a punch from Bennett, which became clear after TNT released a new angle, which showed the Panthers player taking a swing at the Bruins captain.
After the end of Game 3, Paul Maurice said when asked if he saw a punch from Sam Bennett during the collision with Brad Marchand:
"No, and I don’t think most of you would either. It was just a collision. In a perfect world, every team has everybody healthy. Nobody likes to see anybody hurt."
The Panthers lead the series 3-2 with Game 6 scheduled to return to TD Garden in Boston on Friday.