When the Carolina Hurricanes went into the 2002 playoffs, they didnt necessarily think they were Stanley Cup contenders. Then Paul Maurice worked his magic behind the bench. "We could feel it within our room, we could feel it on our bench, we could feel it on our plane" former Carolina goaltender Kevin Weekes said. "And we knew that we were a prepared group, we knew that we were a committed group, we knew we were a group that believed, and Coach Maurice went a long way in creating that atmosphere." Maurice got that group to the Cup final as part of an impressive tenure in Carolina. Almost 12 years after that run, Maurice on Sunday replaced Claude Noel as coach of the Winnipeg Jets, and a handful of his former Hurricanes players consider it a good fit based on what he did for them. "I think hes a very underrated coach," said Hall of Famer and former Carolina captain Ron Francis, who also worked as an assistant under Maurice. "Hes a very bright guy, hes good at assessing the talent he has and then structuring the system that he believes will get the most out of the lineup that he has on a game-in, game-out basis." Maurice has his fair share of issues to deal with to fix what ails the Jets, who are 10 points out of the Western Conferences final playoff spot after losing five in a row. "I would imagine the strategy for him, hed be a little bit of a detective going in there," said Jeff ONeill who played for Maurice in Carolina and Toronto. "Hes going to find out what the problems are and hes going to address the issues. And thats probably the first order of business." Its not exactly new business, either. When Maurice became Whalers coach early in the 1995-96 season, he inherited a Hartford team that missed the playoffs in each of the past three years. The Jets missed the playoffs in their first two seasons in Winnipeg and havent made it since 2006-07 as the Atlanta Thrashers. At least its a familiar challenge for Maurice. "It almost works in his favour that this is not a new situation for him," said former defenceman Aaron Ward. "Hes never really walked into a situation where hes had a cupboard full of unbelievable talent." Winnipeg doesnt have unbelievable talent, but theres a core in place beginning with captain Andrew Ladd, U.S. Olympian Blake Wheeler, Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien. Those early Whalers teams were led by Geoff Sanderson, Andrew Cassels and Keith Primeau. Maurice didnt turn things around right away, but by the second season of the Hurricanes after the move to North Carolina, they were in the playoffs thanks to contributions from Primeau, Sami Kapanen, Francis and goaltender Arturs Irbe. The 2002 run to the Cup final was Maurices most memorable achievement, taking an unheralded group led by Francis and Rod BrindAmour to within three victories of knocking off the talent-rich Detroit Red Wings. Even today, Francis wondered what wouldve happened if Carolina didnt lost Game 3 in triple overtime. "I think he just had the guys believing that we were capable of doing it," said Francis, whos now vice president of hockey operations for the Hurricanes. "We kept everything sort of simple and the focus on the direction it needed to be kept on, and as a result you had a team that believes in itself, believes in each other and some may say overachieved, but not according to the guys in that locker room or the coaching staff. We certainly believed we belonged right to the end." Maurice isnt the same man he was when he got his first NHL head-coaching job at the age of 28 or even the same from 2002. Maurice has coached 1,084 games with the Whalers, Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs and isnt a fresh-faced youngster anymore. "Obviously he knows what works and what doesnt work now," ONeill said. "I think maybe when he was younger he thought he had to be a hard ass all the time for guys to kind of buy in and believe it, and then later on the message didnt have to be that because he was established, he had coached so many games." Maurice is 46 now, armed with experience from coaching Metallurg in Russias Kontinental Hockey League and doing some television analysis. Francis worked on Maurices staff in 2009-10 and 2010-11 and saw how he matured and changed over time. Francis has no doubt Maurice has adjusted with a changing league. "Hes very bright, hes a good student of the game and hes watching whats happening and how things are evolving," Francis said. "He incorporates that into his game plan and his systems. Theres no question he doesnt get stuck on one particular thing but more or less moves with the times." Times now are about youth, as Weekes pointed out the NHL has never been younger. Maurice will be charged with figuring out how to best use defenceman Jacob Trouba, centre Mark Scheifele and others in the pipeline in Winnipeg. Based on what Maurice did at the junior level, including winning the 1995 OHL title with the Detroit Jr. Red Wings, and how much he accomplished with the Hurricanes, his former players know where his strengths lie. Most notably, he can maximize the talent at his disposal. "Its one thing to coach somebody up, its another thing to just coach and its another thing to coach somebody down," Weekes said. "Paul Maurice is somebody that Ive seen, and one of the few that Ive seen as a head coach in my time, that coached you up." If the Jets hope to make up a substantial deficit to get back into contention this season or at least make strides for the future, itll be up to Maurice to coach up like he did in Carolina. That job starts with creating an identity for a team that has been lacking one. Those Hurricanes teams are a nice blue print. "I think its a team that works extremely hard," Francis said. "I think its a team that tries to be very solid in its own end and then try to get in on the forecheck as quickly and as aggressively as possible. Those are some of the trademarks that he really liked to incorporate into his team." Personal relationships also are a trademark of Maurices coaching. Weekes said Maurice knew how to treat players as players and as people, and Francis lauded his "open-door policy," which could benefit Ladd. "At any point as a captain, if I wanted to walk in and have a conversation with him, I felt comfortable doing that," Francis said. "We could talk about everything from my individual game to team concepts and systems or strengths and weaknesses and how to adjust things. And it was no different being a part of the coaching staff. He gave everybody a voice. Youre allowed to kind of say your piece and what you thought, and at the end of the day it was his job as head coach to make the final decision. But he certainly gave you that opportunity to express what you felt." Maurice certainly hasnt been perfect. During his 13 full seasons as an NHL head coach, his teams made the playoffs five times and missed eight. But Weekes, who was part of just one Maurice-led playoff team, praised him as "hands-down" the best coach he ever played for. "He set the right tone with the staff, certainly with all of our players, and for the most part youd have to say he put all of us in a position to succeed," Weekes said. "Everything was structured, our work ethic as a team was through the roof, and I think that really reflected our coaches, starting with Coach Maurice, just in terms of the preparation, the practice detail, the tempo -- us doing all the little things that it took the be successful." Discount Adidas Nmd . Left back Armero opened the scoring in the fifth minute when his deflected shot rolled past Greece goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis. Striker Teofilo Gutierrez poked in Colombias second goal from a deflected corner in the 58th and James Rodriguez capped it off with a low shot in stoppage time after a slick backheel flick from Juan Cuadrado. Ultra Boost Trainers Uk . A quick first step to get to the hoop for a layup. A rousing dunk on the break off a high outlet pass saved by teammate Ramon Sessions. http://www.nmdukonlinestore.com/lite-rac...tlet-deals.html. Notes on Bergeron, Marchand, Gorges, Vanek, Gaborik, Doughty, Hiller and more. BRUINS STORM BACK TO TAKE GAME TWO The Boston Bruins rallied from a 3-1 deficit, scoring four unanswered goals, to win Game Two, 5-3 over the Montreal Canadiens. Cheap Ultra Boost Wholesale . Last year, Matt Kuchar closed with a 4-under 68 to beat Kevin Chappell by two strokes for his second win of the 2013 season and sixth of his career. Wholesale Adidas Nmd . Bilbaos first victory in four rounds lifted it four points clear of Real Sociedad and kept it in command of Spains last Champions League berth for next season. In contrast, Betis was left 11 points from safety after a dismal performance that at times bordered on self-destruction amid some questionable refereeing decisions. SUNRISE, Fla. -- As the game went on, Dan Girardis mistake became magnified. Luckily for Girardi and the New York Rangers, the defenceman redeemed himself in a big way. After a giveaway by Girardi in the second period resulted in a goal for the Florida Panthers, Girardi tied it late in regulation to send the game to overtime. Brad Richards then netted the lone goal in the shootout to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory on Tuesday night. "It felt pretty good," Girardi said. "Its kind of disappointing when one bad play can kind of ruin a game for the team and yourself, so Im glad I could put one in there and kind of redeem myself a little bit." In the shootout, Richards beat Tim Thomas with a wrist shot to the top left corner after Thomas stopped the first two New York attempts. "Thats a great move from a great player," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. Henrik Lundqvist made a save against Brad Boyes to seal the Rangers victory. "I corrected my thinking a little bit in the way I approached (the shootout)," Lundqvist said. "I slowed down a little bit and I had more control." Girardi scored with 2:10 left in regulation with a wrist shot from the left circle to beat Thomas after Derek Stepan found Girardi with a pass as he broke in from the blue line. The goal prevented Thomas from earning his first NHL shutout in nearly two years. "It was one of those nights where if I could see it I could save it," Thomas said. "I thought we were going to hang on until the end there, but thats hockey." Thomas maintained his composure and came up with four saves in overtime, including one from close range by Rangers defenceman Ryan McDonagh. Thomas made 30 saves through overtime, and Lundqvist stopped 21 shots in the third and final meeting between the teams this season. "It was a really hard-fought game by both teams," Vigneault said. "There wasnt a lot of room out there." Florida broke through in the second period on Boyes 10th goal of the season. Girardi retrieved a loose puck, and his pass attempt from behind the net was intercepted by Aleksandeer Barkov, who quickly fed the puck to Boyes in front.dddddddddddd. Boyes beat Lundqvist with a backhander between his pads. Lundqvist was able to keep it a 1-0 deficit despite a 4-minute penalty to Richards midway through the third period when he high-sticked Nick Bjugstad in the face. "I definitely feel like wed like our special teams to be better," Panthers coach Peter Horachek said. New York went 0 for 3 on the power play after scoring three power-play goals on three chances Sunday in a 4-3 win at Tampa Bay. The Rangers came in with at least one power-play goal in five of their last six games. "We had some grade-A scoring opportunities," Vigneault said. "The only thing we didnt do was put it past their goaltender, who obviously was on top of his game." Rangers defenceman Marc Staal made his return after missing 10 games because of a concussion sustained on Dec. 7 against New Jersey. He played nearly 24 minutes, the third-highest total on the team. "I felt pretty good," Staal said. "I think anytime youre out for that long you just want to feel the puck and make the plays you normally make. For the most part I felt I did that. It was a good start." It was the midway point of the season for both teams. The Rangers improved to 20-19-2. "Were one game above .500. We need to get better," Vigneault said. The Panthers dropped to 15-20-6. "We just need to keep this thing going, getting points and climb in the standings," Boyes said. "Weve got to get better. If we keep doing what were doing, the good things will happen." NOTES: New York won the first two meetings, outscoring the Panthers 9-5. ... The Rangers are 3-1 in shootouts, Florida is 4-5. ... Barkov has a four-game point streak (1-3-4) and nine points in 10 games. ... Thomas played in his 400th NHL game. His last shutout was on March 19, 2012, against Toronto when he was with Boston. ... Florida tied the franchise-record with 17 points in December, which has been done four other times. ... New York will continue its road trip at Pittsburgh on Friday. Florida will host Nashville on Saturday. ' ' '