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Paul Maurice, Head Coach of the Florida Panthers (Amy Irvin / The Hockey Writers)

Panthers’ Paul Maurice Says Coaches Don’t Belong in Handshake Line

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Jim Bay | Last updated May 4, 2025 12:10 PM ET

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice held a press conference on May 3 to discuss his thoughts as his team prepares to face the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round of the NHL Playoffs. While the veteran coach touched on many topics, one topic that was discussed raised a few eyebrows.

“I don’t think coaches should shake hands with players,” the Panthers head coach said.

It has nothing to do with the Maple Leafs or head coach Craig Berube, nor did it have anything to do with the contentious nature of their first-round victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Instead, Maurice says that line should be reserved for the ones who battled on the ice over the course of 4-7 games.

An NHL Tradition

The handshake line is a long and unique tradition of the NHL.

It is unclear when the handshake line started in the NHL. However, it has been around for over 100 years.

Hockey historian Liam Maguire posted a memoir online that dates the origin of the handshake line back to 1908. He recalled a newspaper clipping from 1908 about an All-Star Game in the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association (ECAHA). The game was to benefit the widow of Hod Stuart, a member of the Montreal Wanderers who was killed in a diving accident.

One of the pictures in the newspaper showed the two sides shaking hands. While it may not have been the first time teams engaged in a handshake line, it is the first documented instance in hockey.

Not a New Opinion from Maurice

While Maurice supports the handshake line, he believes that it should not include coaches.

“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.”

While he did participate in the handshake line after the Panthers defeated the Lightning, Maurice had previously skipped some handshake lines in the playoffs.

When he was head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, Maurice took some criticism for not participating in the handshake line after a 2021 playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens.

Maurice explained his reasoning for skipping the line during a video conference shortly after the series concluded. “I go back in the league for a long time. When I first started, the coaches never shook the players’ hands. And I think that’s right. It should be for the men who swing at each other, that fight, claw and scratch their way through the series. It’s the players’ place.”

Coach-Player Handshakes Should Be Off-Ice

During that media availability on Saturday (May 3), Maurice said he believes coaches should have their postgame moments away from the handshake line, reserving that great tradition for the players.

“But you wear suits to the game, where for those guys, the battle is real, the intensity and meanness. You have two guys crossing paths who’ve been trying to do harm to each other between four to seven games, and the handshake is legit. That’s part of the great story of our game that they can do that. That’s the way it should be.”

Maurice would rather keep his distance at the final horn, maybe meeting an opposing player under the stands to avoid the attention.

While he participated in the previous handshake and added that he was “impressed” by what Lightning players said to him during the handshake line, the question of whether Maurice will or will not participate in the handshake line has added a new layer of intrigue heading into the matchup against the Leafs.

Should coaches participate in the handshake line? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.