EDITOR'S NOTE: A version of this article originally appeared on SooToday on June 26. It is being republished here for readers who may have missed it.At 85 and 83 years old respectively, the east-end couple finally got to witness their son Paul hoist the Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers for the first time in his prolific head coaching career in the NHL.
"Dad, your name is going up with your heroes," he said on national television. "Beliveau, Richard, Howe, Lindsay, Maurice." Once he got the skating down, Maurice quickly fell in love with hockey — and he had no shortage of local influence. But as his younger brother Shane explained to SooToday, it was the countless connections a young Maurice made with his teammates and coaches that prepared him for a long-standing career behind the bench.
His brother Shane noted that it’s common for sports broadcasters to talk about the winning team’s ups and downs throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. “As Michael Scott from The Office would say, ‘I’m not superstitious, just a little stitious’” he laughed. “Paul said one time that it’s a lot harder for the family because we have no influence over it,” he added. “Paul would say, ‘I have control over the scenario, so I’m in the moment. My time goes by quickly because we’re working towards the next point.’ Whereas for ourselves, we go to work and do our day-to-day things. We don’t have that break away from the impending.”“Once the final buzzer went, my wife and my two kids and I got over to my parents as quickly as possible,” Shane said.