Morning Skate: Thanks

Thursday is upon us, folks - it’s kind of wild to realize that next week is July.

Time flies when you’re having fun!

As the Bruins continue their head coaching search, an Atlantic Division rival made an interesting hire yesterday: the Florida Panthers hired Paul Maurice as their head coach.

Maurice, one of those coaching re-treads I mentioned the other day, resigned as head coach of the Jets earlier this season, citing “diminishing returns” and a loss of passion.

He apparently found that passion again, or at least thinks he’ll find it just outside Miami.

(What a wild change of scenery, eh? Winnipeg to Miami.)

Interestingly, Maurice will still be getting paid by the Jets next season too. Not a bad gig if you can get it.

Why is this notable? It seems a bit harsh on Andrew Brunette, the now-fired (or “replaced”) former head coach of the Panthers.

Many of us felt Bruce Cassidy was a bit hard done by the Bruins, but what of Brunette?

The guy led the Panthers to the most wins in franchise history and the first series win in close to 30 years, then gets canned.

Fortunately (sarcasm font), he’ll reportedly be offered a chance to stay on as an assistant.

Nothing like gratitude for a job well done!

Today’s discussion topic

I’m not sure we need to wade into a drug legalization debate, but this is a very interesting Rolling Stone story on former NHL enforcer Riley Cote and his experience with psychedelics.