After reportedly saying he’d be back for another year in Russia, Paul Maurice has changed his mind.
That’s the story out of Magnitogorsk today as KHL club Mettalurg said Maurice won’t be behind the bench next season, according to Russian news outlet R-Sport.
Maurice, 46, was fired by Carolina early in the 2011-12 season by after getting off to an 8-13-4 start. He was named Metallurg’s head coach in June 2012, and led the team to a seventh-place finish this season (27-13-12, 93 points) before losing in the Gagarin Cup quarterfinals.
A source told R-Sport that Maurice had initially agreed to re-sign with Metallurg for 2013-14 but has since changed his mind, partly due to “family circumstances.”
There’s also the implication that Maurice may be eying a return to the NHL.
R-Sport reports that when he initially expressed interest in returning to Russia, Maurice said he would return to North America if he received offers.
Maurice has coached over 1,000 NHL contests with the Toronto and Carolina/Hartford organizations, posting a .501 winning percentage while qualifying for the playoffs four times.
He took the ‘Canes to the Stanley Cup finals in 2001-02 and to the Eastern Conference finals in 2008-09.
