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Panthers Coach Reveals Message to Hurricanes Counterpart During Postgame Handshake

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated May 29, 2025 7:28 AM ET

The Florida Panthers clinched their third consecutive Stanley Cup Final berth on Wednesday night with a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first period, Florida stormed back with three unanswered goals in under five minutes during the second. Carter Verhaeghe delivered the game-winner off a feed from Aleksander Barkov late in the third period before Sam Bennett sealed it with an empty-netter.

The win also prolonged the Panthers' dominant road stretch, with the team winning all three games played in Raleigh during the conference finals, carrying an 8-2 road record into the Stanley Cup Final.

As the final horn sounded and the Panthers gathered around the Prince of Wales Trophy, attention briefly shifted to a seemingly heated scene at center ice.

Paul Maurice says his exchange with Rod Brind'Amour was about letting the players have the handshake line to themselves.

Maurice believes the handshake line should be for the players only and asked Brind'Amour and his coaches to skip it. pic.twitter.com/io9kmQE1eq
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 29, 2025

Panthers head coach Paul Maurice bypassed the traditional handshake line, walking directly toward Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour for a private conversation caught by television cameras.

Maurice later revealed the reason for the exchange and the content of the brief talk between coaches.

"I asked him not to [shake hands with Panthers players], and he understood it," Maurice said. "It’s a personal belief. I don’t believe that the coaches should shake players' hands at the end. I don’t. When I first got in the league, you would never go shake the players. I don’t know when it changed, but I don’t think it’s right."

Maurice emphasized that he wanted the spotlight on the players alone.

"There's something really kind of beautiful about just the camera on those men who played shaking hands," Maurice said. "And we should respect that."

Maurice has declined to join the handshake line throughout the 2025 postseason, holding to the same view after Florida’s series win over Toronto earlier in the playoffs.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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