Every Florida Panthers player was sitting at his stall in the dressing room as Paul Maurice stood in front of the room.

The Panthers’ coach, a veteran of 26 NHL seasons, at many times this postseason has made his presence known through quick quips and sly remarks during his interviews.

But here’s a look at a slightly softer, more intimate version of Maurice — one that is still able to get the point across, has the right tone for the moment and in a way provides a perfect summation of the team’s season to this point.

Maurice was mic’d up during the Panthers’ Eastern Conference final-clinching Game 6 win against the New York Rangers on Saturday that secured their spot in the Stanley Cup Finals for a second consecutive season.

The Panthers on Wednesday posted a three-minute highlight video from that game, ending with Maurice giving an emphatic speech to his team in the dressing room following the victory.

“Well done, lads. Well done,” Maurice said to start the minute-long clip of his speech that was posted on the video. “We do talk about last year a lot because we should. We learned a lot. Every round win felt like an accomplishment, a major [expletive] accomplishment. This year, it’s all part of the journey, right? And I’ll tell you what I’ll take from this part of the journey. It’ll be two things. The first is the candor given out to Jonah Gadjovich [who hasn’t played yet in the playoffs and was away from the team for most of the conference final while his wife gave birth to twins]. There’s 27 of you. Everybody’s important. Everybody’s a lead dog. We’re all part of the pack. So we talked about courage and brotherhood before this game tonight. The second thing I’m going to take is your [expletive] third period was awesome! Outstanding! You’re all [expletive] brilliant and I love every one of ya.”

Maurice managed to hit all the notes. It was rah-rah but subdued. It was supportive and encouraging but formal. It was emotional but restrained.

And it was a communal message — a team-first message — that managed to strike the right tone with every person in the room as they prepare for the final step of this journey: The Stanley Cup Finals.

It’s quintessential Maurice in a way.

“I don’t want to canonize him, but it’s almost as if he could address a room of people and say something that at once punches me in the chest and envelops you with a hug,” Panthers general manager Bill Zito told the Miami Herald ahead of the Eastern Conference final. “Same word, same tone, same message, and somehow the manner in which he said it hits affects you the way it was needed and affects me the way it was needed. And there are two completely opposite emotions, right. He knows who to pull. He knows who to push. He knows who to hug. It is significant level of emotional intelligence.”

Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice smiles in the first period of Game 6 against the New York Rangers during the Eastern Conference finals of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs at the Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday, June 1, 2024, in Sunrise, Fla.

Maurice doesn’t give too many of these speeches at this time of the year. By now, he says, the players are driving the bus. A group as tight-knit as this one will self-police itself especially since they understand the common goal.

But he does want to make sure the players — the ones who have the real impact on the results — are recognized. He did that on Saturday and will continue to do through throughout the final stage of this playoff run.

“My appreciation is for these players in this situation that they put all of us in. I appreciate that in November as well, too. These guys work hard,” Maurice said. “It does feel different, but I don’t know that it’s because this is the third one [for me or] whatever it is. It feels different because of the players, right? It’s really important what happens this week, but at this time of year, we’re small pieces now. The coaches are small pieces. We’re not changing any major system. The adjustments that you make aren’t really adjustments. They’re just getting back to form. We’re off in part of our game and we want to get back to our form. I spend more time just cheering up there now. If there’s something good, I bang the back of the stick on the boards and check to see if I need a new one.”

How Paul Maurice found peace being ‘just a piece’ — and how that’s helped the Panthers