It was just before his first training camp with the Winnipeg Jets, and Paul Maurice had a message to deliver.

Gathering his team in the basement of the MTS Centre, the head coach was blunt.

For players who a year earlier had spent the last days of camp doing team-building exercises in Banff under then-coach Claude Noel, it was clear there was a new man in charge.

“Look around, and notice you’re not sittin’ in the mountains this year,” was the gist of what Maurice said. “You’re not sittin’ holding hands and singing Kumbaya. Look at the guy sittin’ beside you. This is who you’re going to battle with. The success you have is going to depend on how much you trust and believe in each other.”

That’s one of the things you learned about the Jets boss if you attended the fundraising dinner for the Manitoba Junior League’s Winnipeg Blues, Tuesday, where Maurice let a few hundred people get to know him a little better.

The guest speaker, Maurice was equal parts standup comedian and fatherly advisor as he spoke to a crowd of Blues players, staff, supporters — and one working member of the media.

“I can’t tell you how bad a mood I was in when I got here,” is how he began. “And it’s not something that came up over the course of the day. You’ve gotta build a mood like that for a month.”

It was one of several self-deprecating references Maurice made to the state of his team, coming off a November to forget.

But instead of apologizing or offering explanations, he made people laugh.

“I am an incredibly funny man,” he said in that deadpan delivery. “No, I’m serious. I’m a bag of giggles ALL DAY LONG. Except the rest of my speech doesn’t have anything to do with being funny.

“I don’t know how your work’s going. Mine’s going a little bit rough.”

Maurice’s speech was centred on three pieces of advice that had a major impact on his life.

The first was from his mother: “You’ll never, ever have any idea how much you can love something until you have a kid.”

The second came from a former colleague when Maurice was in Russia’s KHL.

“I haven’t seen my kids in six months and I’m wondering what the hell am I doing in Russia?” Maurice recalled. “And he says, ‘You’ve got to find some joy in what you do.’”

The third piece of advice was also directed at the Blues players.

“In your locker-room, find a way to care about each other,” Maurice said. “Talk about it in your room. That’s what we try to do every day.”

Tying those three themes together, Maurice told the Blues they, like all teenagers, had no idea how hard they’d have to work to be successful in any endeavour.

That if they found a way to embrace the most stressful parts of what they do, they’d be alright.

That leaving their parents’ home too early, like he did at 17, isn’t necessarily the right thing to do.

“If you’re going to play in the NHL, you will,” he said. “All you’ve got to do is give everything you possibly can every single day of your life and the game will find you. You don’t have to go find the game.”

Maurice also revealed how deeply he’s connected with his new home, thanking the Blues supporters for improving the city he’s “fallen in love with.”

“I hope I get buried here,” he said, pausing just long enough for the punch line. “Again, not within the next couple seasons.”

The next breath, he was serious again.

“I’ll live here for the rest of my life. We want to keep these kids and give them opportunities to be great in town ... keep this city fantastic. For my kids and for their kids. That’s why this is important.”

Maurice also took questions:

How can he tell when his team comes together?

“I’m hopeful. Because the game we played in Minnesota the other night... was the best defensive game we’ve played since I’ve been here.”

How much did he miss Michael Frolik?

“I liked Mike Frolik right up to the point that he didn’t want to be a Winnipeg Jet and I can’t remember what he looks like now.”

What’s the ceiling for Mark Scheifele?

“Is he going to be the captain of the team? I don’t know. But if you’ve got a daughter that you want to marry... Scheif’s your man.”

Asked about the most inspirational player he’s ever coached, Maurice mentioned a few, including current Jet Blake Wheeler, whom he called “the hardest working man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

By the end of the night, Maurice had a standing ovation — and a smile on his face.

“Now I’m in a good mood,” he said.