Pat Quinn

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Lieutenant Governor of Illinois see Pat Quinn (politician)
For the Irish grocery chain entrepreneur, see Quinnsworth


Position Defenceman
Shot Left
Height
Weight
ft 3 in (1.91 m)
215 lb (98 kg)
Pro Clubs Toronto Maple Leafs
Vancouver Canucks
Atlanta Flames
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Born January 29, 1943,
Hamilton, ON, CAN
Pro Career 1963 – 1977

John Brian Patrick "Pat" Quinn (born January 29, 1943, in Hamilton, Ontario),[1] is a former head coach in the National Hockey League, most recently with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1998 and 2006. He is also a former NHL defenceman.

Contents

He did not have a particularly distinguished playing career, known more for his toughness than his skill. He was probably best-known for a thundering open-ice body check against Bobby Orr in the Boston Garden during the 1969 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins which left Orr unconscious and provoked not only a bench-clearing brawl, but a suspension for Quinn.

After several years in the minor leagues in the EHL, CHL and WHL, he was called up by the Maple Leafs in 1968. In 1970, the Vancouver Canucks claimed Quinn in the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft. After two years in Vancouver, he again was left unprotected in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft, and spent the next five years with the Atlanta Flames (their first in the NHL) before retiring in 1977.

He became an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers later in 1977, but briefly left hockey to attend law school at Widener University. Soon after his graduation he was made head coach of the Flyers. During the 1979-80 NHL season, his first full season with the Flyers, he led the team to a record breaking 35 game unbeaten streak that culminated in a trip to the Stanley Cup finals, where they were upset by the New York Islanders in six games. Quinn won the Jack Adams Award for his effort. Quinn stayed with the Flyers two more years, but was replaced late in the season during his fourth year. He then finished his law studies at Widener University.

For the 1984-85 season, he was hired by the Los Angeles Kings, and was head coach until 1987. In his first season, he returned them to the playoffs after a two year absence. However, his relationship with superstar Marcel Dionne deteriorated over time. NHL President John Ziegler banned Quinn from coaching the Kings for the rest of the 1986-87 season and coaching the Canucks until 1991. Quinn had signed a contract with Vancouver Canucks, while still under contract with the Kings, maintaining that the Kings had missed a deadline on an option on his contract, which had a clause allowing him to negotiate with other teams. The Kings tried unsuccessfully to sue Quinn for tampering.[1]

For the 1987-88 season, he moved to the Canucks as general manager. In 1991, with the coaching ban lifted, he took over the head coach position with the Canucks, and in that season, won his second Jack Adams Award as a dramatically improved Canucks succeeded in winning the Smythe division, and they captured the division title again in 1992-93. In 1994, despite a lackluster regular season, Quinn led the Canucks to their first Stanley Cup final in 12 years, out coaching the Maple Leafs' Pat Burns in the conference finals. In the finals, they pushed the first-place New York Rangers, with Mike Keenan at the helm, to a thrilling seven game series. After this success Quinn gave up his coaching duties to focus on serving solely as Vancouver's general manager until 1998.

In that year he moved to Toronto to become head coach of the perennially downtrodden Toronto Maple Leafs. He assumed the additional duties of general manager a few months later, reportedly because he and Leafs President Ken Dryden did not get along. In his first season as coach the Maple Leafs' record improved dramatically. As a result of Quinn's coaching the Leafs reached the conference finals but lost to the Buffalo Sabres. Pat Quinn was again runner-up for the Jack Adams Award. Under Quinn, the Toronto Maple Leafs had consistently been contenders, but were never able to reach the Stanley Cup finals during his tenure. Quinn's best results were making the Eastern Conference finals in 1999 and 2002.

In the summer of 2003, Quinn relinquished his managerial duties to John Ferguson, Jr. though retaining his position of head coach, while Dryden was shuffled to non-operation role of Vice Chairman and given a seat on MLSE's board of directors.

On April 20, 2006, Quinn was let go along with the Maple Leafs assistant coach and former teammate Rick Ley. Neither were offered another position within the organization. Quinn was dismissed because the Leafs had narrowly failed to reach the playoffs, though others criticized Ferguson's signings, all of which had little impact in the Leaf's late season run to secure a postseason berth. Toronto Marlies coach Paul Maurice was announced as Quinn's successor as coach of the Maple Leafs. Quinn gave his final low-key goodbyes to the Maple Leaf franchise on Thursday, April 27, 2006 in a written statement.[2]

Quinn was the winningest active coach in the NHL and 4th all time with 616 wins and is recognized by the hockey community as one of the top coaches of the NHL. Quinn's NHL coaching record includes 11 first round playoff wins in 16 seasons. An astounding winning percentage of 69%, surpassed only by coaching legend Scotty Bowman, 71%, and ahead of New York Islanders legend Al Arbour, 66%.

On June 8, 2006, Pat Quinn returned to his hometown in Hamilton, Ontario to accept an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from McMaster University . He addressed the convocation of Social Sciences graduates, saying that "education is a toolbox to make career changes. It is good advice for you to follow your dreams, listen to your heart and obey your passion".

Quinn continues to reside in Vancouver, British Columbia with his wife Sandra and 2 daughters Valerie and Kalli. He is also a cousin of former professional wrestler "Big" John Quinn. He remains the head coach of the Canadian National Hockey Team.

Pat Quinn is also a member of the committee that determines who is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games Quinn coached Team Canada to their first Olympic Gold Medal in ice hockey at the Olympic Games since 1952, and later received a standing ovation from the Montreal Canadiens fans at the Bell Centre for his efforts.

In 2004, Pat Quinn coached Team Canada to victory in the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, its first such win in over 10 years, and held prior to the lockout that abolished the 2004-2005 NHL season.

In their quest for Olympic gold, Hockey Canada, the umbrella organization that overseas Canadian Hockey, turned to Quinn to lead Team Canada's effort for a second consecutive Olympic Gold Medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics held in Turin, Italy. Despite top seeding, Canada went 3-2 through the preliminary round, losing to Switzerland and Finland (both by 2-0 shutouts), then lost to Russia (again by a 2-0 score) in the quarter-finals, and being ranked seventh, just ahead of the USA.

In 2006, Pat Quinn resumed his coaching by leading Team Canada to the 2006 Spengler Cup final.

Team Year Regular Season Post Season
G W L T OTL Pts Finish W L Win % Result
PHI 1978-79 30 18 8 4 - 40 2nd in Patrick Division 3 5 .375 Quarter-Finalist
PHI 1979-80 80 48 12 20 - 116 1st in Patrick Division 13 6 .648 Stanley Cup Finalist
PHI 1980-81 80 41 24 15 - 97 2nd in Patrick Division 6 6 .500 Quarter-Finalist
PHI 1981-82 72 34 29 9 - 77 3rd in Patrick Division - - -
PHI Total 262 141
53.8%
73
27.9%
48
18.3%
- 330 22 17 .564 3 Playoff Appearances
LA 1984-85 80 34 32 14 - 82 4th in Smythe Division 0 3 .000 Preliminary Round
LA 1985-86 80 23 49 8 - 54 5th in Smythe Division - - -
LA 1986-87 42 18 20 4 - 40 4th in Smythe Division - - -
LA Total 202 75
37.1%
101
50.0%
26
12.9%
- 176 0 3 .000 1 Playoff Appearance
VAN 1990-91 26 9 13 4 - 22 4th in Smythe Division 2 4 .333 Division Semi-finalist
VAN 1991-92 80 42 26 12 - 96 1st in Smythe Division 6 7 .461 Division Finalist
VAN 1992-93 84 46 29 9 - 101 1st in Smythe Division 6 6 .500 Divisional Finalist
VAN 1993-94 84 41 40 3 - 85 2nd Pacific 15 9 .625 Stanley Cup Finalist
VAN 1995-96 6 3 3 0 - 6 1st in Pacific 2 4 .333 Conference Quarter-Finalist
VAN Total 280 141
50.4%
111
39.6%
28
10.0%
- 310 31 30 .508 5 Playoff Appearances
TOR 1998-99 82 45 30 7 - 97 2nd in Northeast 9 8 .529 Conference Finalist
TOR 1999-00 82 45 27 7 3 100 1st in Northeast 6 6 .500 Conference Semi-Finalist
TOR 2000-01 82 37 29 11 5 90 3rd in Northeast 7 4 .636 Conference Semi-Finalist
TOR 2001-02 82 43 25 10 4 100 2nd in Northeast 10 10 .500 Conference Finalist
TOR 2002-03 82 44 28 7 3 98 2nd in Northeast 1 4 .200 Conference Quarter-Finalist
TOR 2003-04 82 45 24 10 3 103 2nd in Northeast 6 7 .462 Conference Semi-Finalist
TOR 2005-06 82 41 33 - 8 90 4th in Northeast - - -
TOR Total 574 300
52.3%
196
34.1%
52
9.1%
26
4.5%
678 - 39 39 .500 6 Playoff Appearances
Total 1,318 657
49.8%
481
36.5%
154
11.7%
26
2.0%
1,494 92 89 .508 15 Playoff Appearances

  1. ^ Cole, Stephen (2006). The Canadian Hockey Atlas. Doubleday Canada. ISBN 978-0-385-66093-8 (0-385-66093-6). 
Preceded by
Keith McCreary
Atlanta Flames captains
1975-77
Succeeded by
Tom Lysiak


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