Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice agrees to extension with club

Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice has signed a multi-year extension with the Jets.

In his seventh season as Jets coach, Maurice has guided Winnipeg to the playoffs three times, including a run to the Western Conference final in 2018.

The Jets (29-24-5) entered Wednesday night’s action one point out of a playoff spot.

“Being able to stay and work — I think we were staying one way or another — but being able to stay and work for the Winnipeg Jets is perfect,” Maurice told the Jets’ website.

Maurice came to the Jets midway through the 2013-14 season after one campaign in Russia’s KHL as coach of Magnitogorsk Metallurg. He has a 264-186-53 record with Winnipeg.

Maurice first became an NHL head coach in 1995 with the Hartford Whalers. He has a career record of 724-643-220 in 22 seasons with the Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise, the Jets and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The 53-year-old native of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., is third in both wins and games coaches amongst active NHL coaches. His 502 games with the Jets trails only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper for most games by an active coach with their current club.

Maurice stayed with the Whalers franchise when it moved to Carolina in 1997, continuing as Hurricanes coach until he was dismissed in the 2003-04 season.

The highlight of his run in Carolina was a trip to the Stanley Cup final in 2002 when the Hurricanes lost in five games to the Detroit Red Wings.

Maurice was hired by Toronto to coach its American Hockey League affiliate in 2005-06 before being promoted to serve in the same role with the Leafs a year later.

After missing the playoffs in his two seasons with Toronto, Maurice lost his job. He returned to Carolina as head coach in 2008 before his second stint with the Hurricanes ended in the 2011-12 season.

Maurice entered the coaching profession as an assistant with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League in 1988.

In his final year in the junior ranks, Maurice was head coach of a Detroit Junior Red Wings team that won the OHL title before losing in the final of the 1995 Memorial Cup.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2020.

The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An incorrect date for Paul Maurice’s arrival in Winnipeg was reported in aprevious version.