Maurice resigns as Jets coach, was in ninth season with Winnipeg

Paul Maurice resigned as coach of the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

Maurice was in his ninth season with Winnipeg. The 54-year-old was 315-223-62 in 600 games, including 13-10-5 this season.
"They need a new voice," Maurice said. "They need somebody to help them get to that next place. ... It's the right time for it, and I know that.
"I'm so attached to this group, and I know they need something new."
Asked what it was they needed, Maurice said jokingly, "You know what? That's not my job anymore."
Dave Lowry, who was one of Maurice's assistants, will coach the Jets the rest of the season, starting with their home game against the Washington Capitals, a 5-2 loss, on Friday.
"I don't think this is how anybody would draw it up. The one thing that eases the situation a little bit is that I have Paul's blessing on this," Lowry said before the game. "That was something that was very concerning to me. I wanted to make sure.
"This is Paul leaving on his own terms. That was the one thing that was communicated and reenforced to me. He left on his own terms. And that was extremely important to me. And that he's fully supportive of the decision moving forward."
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Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said this was not a spur-of-the-moment decision for Maurice.
"A lot of the conversations that Paul and I have had over the last weeks, months, but weeks really, is about getting it to that next level and what it's going to take and can we get there?" Cheveldayoff said. "You are limited in a lot of things that you can do in this game, so again, as we continued to talk, I think that in his mind he felt that he certainly wasn't going to be able to get us to that next level.
"When Paul and I talked, it's a good day for the Jets here right now, because I think on the Paul Maurice side he's comfortable with where he's at. But I think for the Jets, we have an opportunity now to move forward with a new voice."
Cheveldayoff said he believes the Jets are a contender for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
"I think it definitely should be a playoff team but this is a tough league," he said. "Sitting here telling you where it should or shouldn't be, I can have all that in front of you. But as you guys see, you've got to go out there, you've got to do it. ... But I think this team can challenge to be one of the top teams. Or it can be a team that misses the playoffs if they don't figure it out."
He also said the Jets should be ready to do some things differently under Lowry.
"Sometimes getting uncomfortable in a player's routine or life, that's good," Cheveldayoff said. "I think the players need to get a little uncomfortable here right now. We're not in a comfortable situation. This team should be better. That's a simple fact."
Jets forward Andrew Copp said there's something to the comfort-level discussion.
"It's not that we got too comfortable," he said. "We didn't know how to be uncomfortable anymore. When you're uncomfortable sometimes that makes you perform that much better. It gets you out of your comfort zone and makes you push to new limits, push yourself harder than you knew you could, that sort of thing."
Maurice
is sixth in NHL history
with 775 wins and fourth in games coached with 1,684, behind Scotty Bowman (2,141), Joel Quenneville (1,768) and Barry Trotz (1,755). He was 775-680-130 with 99 ties with the Jets, Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, and Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Jets qualified for the postseason the past four seasons, including reaching the Western Conference Final in 2018. Last season they lost to the Montreal Canadiens in four games in the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Second Round.
"There is a shelf life for what we do," Maurice said. "The only way that shelf life gets extended is if you can win championships. You need to win."
Jets center Mark Scheifele said the coaching change was shocking.
"In my mind it was a selfless act," he said. "Trying to do more for this team. He's a wonderful human being, he's very genuine. He's a guy that loves this organization, loves this city, loves this community. And he's said that over and over. He just thinks that this team needs another voice. ... Obviously that's his decision. We can't change that. All we can do is come to work tonight and battle for each other in this room."
Lowry was in his second season as a Jets assistant after previously being an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings (2017-19) and Calgary Flames (2009-12). He was a coach with Calgary (2008-09), Victoria (2012-17) and Brandon (2019-20) in the Western Hockey League.
His son, Jets center Adam Lowry, said his father is adaptable and is unlikely to discard everything Winnipeg has been doing.
"I think it's going to be similar to Paul," Adam Lowry said. "Paul was very prepared. Paul was very articulate in the message he wanted. Looking at teams in the past that my dad has coached, he wants them to play fast and he wants them to play with the puck. He really just tries to hold them accountable to their actions. He's had different styles of teams."
Lowry said he will be direct with his players.
"I'm a firm believer in honesty. I'm not going to tell them what they always want to hear but I'm going to tell them what they need to hear," he said. "I understand the athlete today. I understand how you have to communicate with them. And that goes to formulating relationships. I'm fortunate that I was able to be a part of this group last year, albeit in a different role. I built some very strong connections with these players and I look forward to working with them moving forward."
Maurice was 41-51 in 92 Stanley Cup Playoff games. He coached the Hurricanes to the 2002 Stanley Cup Final, which they lost in five games to the Detroit Red Wings.
Maurice, at 28 years old, became the second-youngest coach in NHL history when he replaced Paul Holmgren as coach of the Whalers on Nov. 7, 1995. Hartford relocated as the Carolina Hurricanes for the 1997-98 season, and Maurice was fired Dec. 14, 2003, 30 games into his ninth season.
He coached the Maple Leafs for two seasons (2006-08) before returning to the Hurricanes, replacing Peter Laviolette on Dec. 3, 2008.
Carolina missed the playoffs in the next three seasons, and he was fired Nov. 28, 2011, 25 games into his fourth season.
He was hired by the Jets on Jan. 12, 2014, replacing Claude Noel.
"I love these guys," Maurice said. "I love this place. I know that it's time. And that's a good thing for the Jets. It's also a really, really good thing for me."
Maurice won an Ontario Hockey League championship with the Detroit Junior Red Wings in 1994-95, and was an assistant to Ralph Kruger on Team Europe, which finished second at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
Maurice said he's not sure if we will coach again.
"The only way I would step back again is if I felt like I'd be even better than I was before, and that's not today," he said.
NHL.com correspondent Darrin Bauming contributed to this report