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Maurice and Ferguson said the Leafs would be a playoff team competing for the Stanley Cup. When asked to assess the good and the bad during his two years behind the Leafs bench, Maurice wasn't ready to respond.
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"I don't know that I'm in the right state of mind to go through them right now," he said. "The fact of the matter is that there are always things -- even in good seasons -- that you would like to have changed. At the same time, you made the decisions with experience, with your entire staff on board, and you live with those results."
Ferguson hired Maurice on May 12, 2006 after firing Pat Quinn. That move came after the Leafs missed the playoffs for the first time since 1998.
Maurice's first season with the club came in 2006-07 after coaching the AHL farm team. The Leafs had a winning record but missed the playoffs by one point.
Maurice became an NHL coach at age 28, spending eight years as coach of the Hartford Whalers and Carolina. His best season was 2001-02, when Carolina eliminated Toronto in the Eastern Conference final to reach the championship series for the first time.
The Hurricanes fired Maurice 30 games into the 2003-04 season. His next coaching job came when he joined the Toronto organization in 2005-06 to guide the AHL's Toronto Marlies.
