Back-to-back Stanley Cup champion coach Paul Maurice apparently wasn’t really in the running to compete for a gold medal at the Olympics.
After it was reported earlier in the Games that a player representative requested the Finnish national team’s general manager to hire Maurice for the head-coaching job, the Florida Panthers bench boss dismissed the idea Saturday
“Yeah, I got a bunch of texts. Silliness,” Maurice told reporters. “I think somebody got confused with Tuomo Ruutu. There was a Panther coach on the bench, it just wasn’t me.”
Ruutu, a Finnish former player, is included on Maurice’s Panthers staff, and is one of Finland’s assistant coaches at the Olympics.
Maurice also coaches Finnish national players Eetu Luostarinen, Anton Lundell and Niko Mikkola. Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov also would have been on the Finnish team if he wasn’t injured.
Despite the possibility to compete for an Olympic medal, Maurice said he wouldn’t be interested in coaching Team Finland.
“They have too many good coaches over in Finland, they don’t need me,” Maurice said. “(He’s) born in Canada, I’m a U.S. citizen. I think I’ll stay in Fort Lauderdale for these tournaments. Worked out just fine.”