For Florida and Tampa Bay players, the hitting is happening on the ice.
For the coaches, it's happening at the microphone.
Panthers coach Paul Maurice and Lightning coach Jon Cooper have much in common besides having their names etched onto the Stanley Cup and residing in Florida. They're both savvy in how they deal with media. They're both masters of dry humor. And they don't mind being on the receiving end of a light-hearted jab.
Case in point: Cooper, after Tampa Bay won Game 3 of the teams' first-round series, cutting Florida's lead to 2-1 going into Game 4 on Monday night.
He remembered exactly what Maurice said when Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel hit Florida's Aleksander Barkov in Game 2 and earned a 5-minute major for interference. So, when Florida's Matthew Tkachuk drew the same penalty for a hit on Tampa Bay's Jake Guentzel in Game 3 on Saturday, Cooper seized the opportunity.
Maurice's line going into Game 3: "The only players we hit are the ones that have pucks."
Cooper's line after Game 3: "The only players we hit are the ones with pucks."
Not quite word-for-word, but close enough. Hagel was suspended for one game following his hit. Tkachuk was not suspended for his.
And this much is clear: At least some members of the Panthers' camp thought Cooper's line was funny and well-delivered. Among them was Michelle Maurice, who told her husband that she liked Cooper's response.
"My wife had a good chuckle," Maurice said. "I think she thought it was pretty funny. I think the coaches probably will have to take over the chirping at some point. It's kind of a lost art on the bench. So, it was all good."
Cooper is particularly skilled in the art of rebuttal: He was an attorney before becoming a two-time Cup-winning NHL coach. Maurice heard Cooper's line later Saturday night when he was at home watching other playoff games.
"He chirped me. I saw it. I'm at home watching the Senators game and he chirped me," Maurice said. "Which I appreciate. He used my own words on me, too. I mean, I'm not sure it was applicable to the events on the ice, but it was still good. Well done."
"I felt like it was really strong-arm robbery."
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