Panthers Coach's Honest Take on 'Sweaty' NHL Tradition

According to hockey historian Liam Maguire, the handshake line dates back to 1908 and symbolizes respect between players after completing a series.

Maurice made clear that while he supports the tradition itself, he believes the moment should be strictly for the ones who battled on the ice.

“When this whole thing started, and I don’t know when it changed, probably in the past 10 years, but the coaches would come off the bench, shake hands, and then they would leave,” Maurice said. “Somewhere, some coach wanted to get on camera, got down there, and got in the line. Now, if you don’t, you get roasted for it, being disrespectful. So, you’ve got to go and shake a bunch of sweaty dudes’ hands.

“But you wear a suit to the game; for those guys, the battle is real. The intensity is real, the meanness. You have two guys crossing paths who had been trying to do harm to each other for somewhere between four and seven games. That handshake is legitimate, and it’s real. And that’s a part of the great story of our game that they can do that.”

The Panthers are coming off winning the Stanley Cup last season, and after beating the Lightning in four game,s they will go against the Maple Leafs in round two.

Game 1 of the Panthers-Maple Leafs series begins at 8 p.m. ET on Monday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.