Greg Wyshynskijun 3, 2025, 11:16 AM ET
Closegreg Wyshynski is a senior NHL writer at ESPN.
Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brinder Amore said he was surprised when Florida Panthers manager Paul Maurice asked him not to join the series’ final handshake line last week, and he disagreed that he should be the players alone.
Maurice tried to launch a new tradition in the NHL, a decades-old ritual held at Centre Ice, where coaches and staff would not take part in the handshake line after the team was removed from the Stanley Cup playoffs.
He asked Toronto Maple Leafs coach Craig Belve to stop in the second round, and Belve required him. He asked Brind’amour to do the same after the Panthers eliminated the Hurricanes in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Raleigh. Maurice said he was grateful that Brindamour agreed to that.
“There’s this long list of suits and track suits. There were 400 people on the ice. They’re all really important to our group, but one of them wasn’t in the game. There’s something visually using the camera just by the guys who played it.
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With media availability for the postseason of Hurricanes on Tuesday, Brindamour said he understands Maurice’s perspective. However, he said that participating in handshakes is about “graceful defeats” and will not continue Maurice’s tradition next season.
“Sitting on it and regretting, I had some memories and moments that were pretty impactful on that line, like the coaches going through it,” he said.
Brind’Amour pointed out that this tradition gives him the opportunity to have a moment with the players he was coaching and coaching.
“I think you’ll probably go back to it just because it’s a sign of respect. That’s how I see it. We’re not an ice fight, but we’re with these guys,” Brind’amour said. “He won, so I went a bit, ‘OK, I’m going to follow your lead in it.’ But anyway, I think it’s important for me to show respect to the players. ”
Maurice, whose first head coaching job was with the Hartford Whalers in 1995, said staff were not always on the handshake line and were trying to reorient the players’ spotlight.
“When I first arrived in the league, we never rocked the players. That was the only thing I could understand among the coaches who wanted to get on camera,” Maurice said.
“I think there’s a really nice and beautiful part of our game. Just the players who are shaking their hands at the end. Given all the great competition on the ice, they haven’t sent each other Christmas cards. This was awkward.
Maurice’s reigning champion Panthers face the Edmonton Oilers in their second straight Stanley Cup final. Game 1 is Wednesday night.
