Panthers coach Paul Maurice says Gudas yelling at Leafs' Woll was "kinda funny"

It’s been quite a while since Paul Maurice was the coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but it still seems like he’s getting the last laugh on his former franchise.

Coaching in Toronto for two seasons from 2006-2008, the gig was his third of now six head coaching jobs at the NHL level. While there’s been massive turnover in Toronto’s makeup on and off the ice over the last 15 years, it doesn’t appear like Maurice has much love for his old team.

Last spring, Maurice’s Florida Panthers squad delivered a blow to Toronto in the second round of the playoffs, knocking the Leafs out in a five-game series victory en route to a surprise run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Today, the two Atlantic Division foes meet again for the first time since the spring, with puck drop set for 7 pm ET.

And asked at his team’s morning skate about an infamous photo where veteran Florida defender Radko Gudas was seen yelling in the face of Toronto goalie Joseph Woll — playing in his first-ever playoff series — following the team’s overtime victory in Game 5, Maurice wasn’t showing too much sympathy for the then-24-year-old goalie.

“We thought it was kinda funny. He’s just such an emotional guy. It was his barbaric yelp. People from Toronto didn’t appreciate it the same way we did,” Maurice told reporters at Thursday’s morning skate, as per Sportsnet’s Luke Fox.

"We thought it was kinda funny. He's just such an emotional guy. It was his barbaric yelp. People from Toronto didn't appreciate it the same way we did." — Paul Maurice, to reporters, on this infamous Radko Gudas photo https://t.co/07nCqujN3R

— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) October 19, 2023

Gudas had been a thorn in Toronto’s side all series, particularly getting under the ire of Leafs fans for a hit on David Kampf that many thought should’ve been penalized.

Maurice himself has quite a history of using the media as an outlet for his thoughts on his former employer.

Last January, Maurice was fined by the NHL for suggesting the Leafs were getting favourable calls by the referees, a trend he continued bringing up in the playoff series with a series of hand signals in the closing moments of Game 1.

This is dramatic as hell from Paul Maurice pic.twitter.com/B3KaIZjyHb

— Rink Rat Report (@RinkRatReport) May 3, 2023

While we’re not quite sure how things will go between Toronto and Florida tonight, it at the very least seems like the shots between the two teams aren’t set to die down anytime soon.

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