Paul Maurice Discusses Florida vs. Edmonton Before GM6, Nick Cousins Impact & Ekman-Larsson

Intro what do you think the guys have learned over these last two games just in terms of the experience the moment obviously like you said before this series most of these guys have never felt these feelings before uh just to order the emotions um and get your priorities correct I thought uh I know we played a heck of a game in game five I think that was structurally as close to our game vast majority of that'll be training camp video it was good so that's the start put the game first left side first Nick Cousins row Paul Nick cousins had some big moments last few years for your team second round knocking out the Leafs in overtime what's happened that his role has changed here this year I mean uh and what are you expect from him tonight we play vast majority of the games for us uh we added two players at the trade deadline so terce sen and aoso came in um we moved vlat all around until he found his home uh Kyle he really built um we had dropped two overtime games in the New York series consecutively um so we were rotating in they're almost a pair and I I had moved them as pairs then and out of the lineup and then we went Sixth Street so if if there had been a change um in the order of winds he'd have come back in earlier I left Kyle in uh for game five just because he had played so darn well and and I really liked what he was doing and not that that changed a whole lot but there's a chemistry of lomber stenin and cousins because they played together so much this year and we found that the players that come out and then come in they never come in afraid to make a mistake they come in wired right they they sat out they don't like it it's not it's not a negative emotion it's they want to be a part of it so bad uh that they find I found like I really liked Ryan's game I thought he was on the PO and physical and smart and and impactful in that game and we'll expect that from Nick left side fourth row uh for you Legacy personally Paul how much do you allow yourself to think what the outcome of the next one or two games could do for your legacy as a head coach or do you fight off thoughts like that I don't to fight them I think if I did it would have been after game three right then and I wouldn't be of thinking of those words you can just feel it it's right there but dropping the next two games put you right back into the series and it gets right back to hockey Forefront so now I don't have to fight any of those thoughts there's no daydreaming uh this is all get the right video right prep your team right it's about the game tonight so if I had to fight for it it would have been four or five days ago not now front row right Alexander Barkov side Paul you've coached a lot of captains in the NHL what does Alexander barov like to kind of work with and deal with and what is his sort of style of leadership compared to some of the other players you've coached I think he would be for comparisons he would be closest to Matt sandine in um work ethic practice habits like all the all the things that some Superstars don't have to do um he he does it he is easily not that the other men weren't most the most coachable because there's not 10 things you got to coach right there's just it's more can you apply what you're really good at to this style or this thought so that's kind of would be the only coaching that happens but what he's great at I don't think that it's a big speech that creates this environment it's how he moves around the players every single day and he's been here for so long when you ask the players at the start of the Year what's the thing about our culture that you like the most large number of responses is how easy it is to fit into the room how easy it is for all the new guys we have nine new players from last year come in how easy it was for them be there two weeks and feel like you've always played there and I think that's him because he moves around the room with no ego it's not that he doesn't have one it's that he never makes you feel that you're less important than he is he is as humble a leader as I've ever had but also very competitive and very intense so he's got that wonderful mix I haven't done it justice because I can't you need to move around that man and just kind of we we talk a lot about in the coach's office what it's like to have a guy like that that's let's do it let's try it let's go we'll take three more questions front Oliver EkmanLarsson right first real quick the two guys who didn't skate this morning they're they're good to go good to um just Oliver Ean Larson a year ago he's getting bought out and now he's in the situation for you what what did you guess to learn about him right early in the season that you that he could still be I guess a player that you could trust right now go on your first power play in this situation yeah he he got a lot of very positive reports out of Vancouver for because he had been in a very difficult situation and that just kind of had to end and and then we got him timed perfectly right he doesn't Place some February once he gets to the summer he's actually training not rehabbing for the first time in years and then he would have had the exact same experience that those other eight players had brand new team coming in so it's not just Sasha barov you've also got you know gusta forsling a countryman so he's got these guys and he's not he's not 38 but he's not 22 either he's a veteran guy and there's a bunch of guys like that in the room so I think well I know this just from watching he got very comfortable with us very very quickly and probably the best thing that happened is that we were injured so he didn't come in in the five6 hole he came in and he played with Gustaf and he came out after that 13 to 15 game block viewed in our room as the NHL defenseman that he is and he got to carry that confidence and that and that respect throughout the year now again he's not 22 this is this is a joy for him right this is this is the thing that he could have only dreamed about happening in his career from a year ago to be where he is now and because he's got he's got that confidence and that and that experience in him I mean he's playing to make the most of it take two more questions right Pressure side third row uh obviously you guys are still up in the series but coming into Edmonton do you guys feel pressure mounting and if so how do you Embrace that we've we've won Series in game sixes before or on the road before so that would be in our memory bank we would feel good about we've been a good road team so there's some confidence in how we do that I think the pressure has leveled in my opinion is leveling uh based on what one team has to lose and what the other team has to gain it becomes a bit of a an even there's different kinds of emotions for both team but they're both now equally strong other than that it'll be an ex exceptionally loud building tonight probably louder than the first two games there'll be a lots of emotion with that but we've been in some pretty loud buildings left side second row Paul you Game 7 mentality had a three-o lead you learned a lot from the previous two games you want your players to be relaxed and do you feel from a coaching perspective that you need to treat this game like a game seven well at first first I would need to know how I would treat the game seven differently than this or game five not sure I would have a handle on that I I don't feel that I I don't feel that I will bring the idea into the room that we need to play two games tonight that that kind of weight to the game this will be all hockey for us the emotions are going to be there the energy is going to be there the conversation prior to the puck drop is strictly hockey thank you for your time Paul [Music] oh