Paul Maurice has resigned as head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, saying the team needs a new voice.
“This is a good team. I’m a good coach,” said Maurice. “But sometimes when you take over a team, it’s like you’re starting at the bottom of a mountain and you’re pushing a rock up to the top and you’re only able to get it to a certain place. And that’s where I feel I’m at. And if you would allow me some arrogance, I would say that I’m better positioned than anyone to know that they need a new voice.”
Assistant coach Dave Lowry will be Winnipeg’s interim head coach. Lowry and Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff are set to speak to the media later on Friday to address the moves.
Maurice said his decision to step down was not related to the team’s performance, nor was it linked to him losing the players.
“They haven’t quit on me,” Maurice said. “They’re a good bunch of men. My relationship is strong with all of them. And I’m cheering for them. I am. But when you have a 26-year professional hockey coaching career, you know. They need a new voice. They need somebody to help them get to that next place. It doesn’t need to be a necessarily more experienced, more talented guy. It needs to be a different voice. It’s the right time for it. And I know that.”
Maurice made it clear that he was at peace with his decision — that Friday was a really good day for him and for the franchise, bringing similar happiness and clarity as the day he stepped into the job in January 2014.
Maurice, who came in as a replacement for Claude Noel, was the second longest-serving head coach in the league, trailing only Jon Cooper of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“I came up here on a four-month contract,” Maurice told reporters during a press conference Friday morning. “And fell in love with all of it. Ownership. Management. Players. Staff. The city. The fans. The snow. The cold. And found a home. Wonderful place. And I love this place. I love this team.”
Maurice’s Jets made the post-season five times, including his first full season at the helm in 2014-15 as well as the past four consecutive years. The team’s best showing under Maurice came in 2017-18 when the Jets advanced to the Western Conference Final before losing to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games.
The Jets signed Maurice to a multi-year extension in February 2020 before the team bowed out in the qualifying round against the Calgary Flames later that year.
Last season, the Jets swept the favoured Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the North Division playoffs before being swept by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.
The Jets are 13-10-5 and fifth in the Central Division this season.
The 54-year-old Maurice, a native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., previously coached the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. He started in the NHL with Hartford in 1995 and his best season came in 2001-02 when he guided the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup Final.
Lowry became an assistant coach with the Jets in November 2020 after serving as head coach of the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings. A former NHLer himself, who is also the father of Jets centre Adam Lowry, was previously an assistant with the Flames and Los Angeles Kings.
