Pat Quinn fired as Leafs coach

[CanadianChris 0]

Not surprising in the least, really. The writing was on the wall after getting slammed by Montreal in that two-game series last month.

 

Now the fun part...who replaces him?

 

TORONTO (CP) - The Maple Leafs fired Pat Quinn on Thursday, making the veteran coach the latest victim of Toronto's inability to recapture its hockey glory.

 

The 63-year-old Quinn, who still had another year on his contract, leaves after seven seasons behind the Toronto bench.

 

His last season was the most difficult, the Leafs missing the post-season for the first time under his helm despite a late charge. It was only the fourth season overall in Quinn's stellar 19-year coaching career that he missed the playoffs.

 

Quinn has never won a Stanley Cup as head coach although he led the 1980 Philadelphia Flyers and '94 Vancouver Canucks to the final. He also coached Team Canada to Olympic gold in 2002 and the World Cup of Hockey championship in 2004.

 

There were rumblings of a strained relationship in Toronto between him and GM John Ferguson, who inherited Quinn as coach when he took over in August 2003.

 

Overall, the Hamilton native went 300-222-52 with 26 shootout and overtime losses as Leafs coach, twice leading Toronto to the Eastern Conference final, losing to Buffalo in 1998-99 and Carolina 2001-02.

 

He's fourth all-time in coaching victories with 657 behind Scotty Bowman (1,244), Al Arbour (781) and Dick Irvin (692).

 

The Leafs were 41-33-8 this season and finished ninth in the Eastern Conference, missing the final playoff spot by two points after a strong 9-1-2 run late in the year.

 

It wasn't enough to save his job.

 

Quinn was named Toronto's 25th head coach in June 1998, inheriting a club that had missed the playoffs in successive seasons. It didn't take long for Quinn to make an impact. The Leafs set a club record for wins (45), they reached the conference final, and Quinn was runner-up for the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 1998-99.

 

When he arrived from Vancouver after 11 seasons as GM and a few spells as coach, Quinn told Toronto reporters he was looking forward to just coaching with the Leafs.

 

That lasted only one year. When Mike Smith left town in the summer of '99 after a power struggle with president Ken Dryden, Quinn stepped in and took over the GM job, more as a means of survival than his desire to take the job.

 

Quinn kept the dual roles for four seasons until Ferguson's hiring.

 

In 1999-2000, Quinn led the Leafs to their first divisional title since 1962-63. The team once again tied a franchise record 45 wins.

 

The Leafs finished third overall in the NHL standings in 2001-02 and reached the conference final. It was during that series loss to Carolina that Quinn had a health scare, as doctors discovered he suffered from heart arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). Quinn, 58 at the time, would drastically change his lifestyle overnight.

 

``All my life, I'd get up in the morning, grab a coffee and a cigar, jump in the car and go to the office or to the rink,'' Quinn said in a Reader's Digest interview a few years later. ``I never had breakfast, and lunch would be some kind of fast food. By the time you get home at night you're starved. So I ate one big meal a day. I wasn't very active either. All that had to change. Now I have breakfast and start the day out right.

 

``I quit the cigars right away. The last one I smoked was on the morning I went into hospital in Toronto.''

 

A slimmer and healthier looking Quinn kept on leading to the Leafs to winning seasons. The set club records for points (103) and road wins (23) in 2003-04 but the Leafs bowed out in the second round to Philadelphia.

 

His first few moves as GM weren't golden. He sent promising winger Fredrik Modin to Tampa in October 1999 in exchange for defenceman Cory Cross. The acquisition of forward Dmitri Khristich later that month forced the Leafs to open up a roster spot, which Quinn did by waiving young winger Steve Sullivan.

 

But there were some good ones, too, such as getting winger Darcy Tucker from Tampa, essentially for forward Mike Johnson, in February 2000. And acquiring defenceman Bryan McCabe from Chicago in October 2000 for blue-liner Alexander Karpovtsev - by far his best deal.

 

Getting forwards Robert Reichel and Travis Green from Phoenix in June 2001 for defenceman Danny Markov was probably not a great move, but a few weeks later Quinn got winger Mikael Renberg for winger Sergei Berezin - a clear victory.

 

His final blockbuster was acclaimed by Leaf fans at the time, star winger Owen Nolan coming to Toronto just before the trade deadline in March 2003 in exchange for centres Alyn McCauley and Brad Boyes and a first-round draft pick. It turned out to be a disaster but hindsight is 20-20. The Leafs had a contender in 2002-03 and the Nolan deal was the right move at the time.

 

Quinn was also successful on the free-agent front, Gary Roberts in July 2000, Alexander Mogilny in July 2001 and Ed Belfour in July 2002 his three most prominent signings.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Well, who will the Leafs hire now, and where will Pat Quinn go? Boston?

[Annabelle 0]

jr. complies a team of slow, aging old-timers - then the coach is fired? come on. i don't like pat quinn but jr. is inept. his inability to read the hockey landscape after the strike is deserving of saring quinn's fate.

[the max 0]

Well, who will the Leafs hire now, and where will Pat Quinn go? Boston?

 

Please no.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Well, who will the Leafs hire now, and where will Pat Quinn go? Boston?

 

Please no.

 

Why not? Don't let this last season change your prespective of the Quinn. Overall he is still one of the best coaches in the NHL.

[Guest]

Best coaches in the NHL don't put Mats Sundin and Eric Lindros with Clarke Wilm and Tie Domi as their wings.

 

I get the feeling that Quinn may come to LA. I don't know whether or not I'd be ok with that.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Best coaches in the NHL don't put Mats Sundin and Eric Lindros with Clarke Wilm and Tie Domi as their wings.

 

I get the feeling that Quinn may come to LA. I don't know whether or not I'd be ok with that.

 

Yes Quinn at times makes dumb mistakes, case in point this year's olympic disaster. Who the fuck in their right mind takes Dan Booyle, Jay Bo, and Bryan McCabe over Dion Phanuef!

 

But overall, Quinn knows what it takes to win and is a great coach. He has one of the most impressive coaching resumes of all time. Even though it lacks a championship.

[bob_barron 0]

I'm not too upset about this, as I think it was Quinn's time to go. The players seemed to quit on him at times.

 

Banky's right though, Ferguson needs to go.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Well, who will the Leafs hire now, and where will Pat Quinn go? Boston?

 

Please no.

 

Why not? Don't let this last season change your prespective of the Quinn. Overall he is still one of the best coaches in the NHL.

I think Quinn's "old school" mentality worked a lot better in the pre-lockout NHL than in the current, fast paced NHL. I think the results of this past season, and the '06 Olympic games, are what one can expect if PQ is their coach.

 

I'm not sure if I'd be more surprised or more angry if the B's hired him as their new coach. Most likely angry.

[Red Baron 0]

He's going to Vancouver or if not, New York Islanders.

[CanadianChris 0]

If he goes to Boston, you guys have my sympathies. Quinn was the main reason I stopped being a Leafs fan. He's a whiner and a goon, and his preferred style of play is awful.

 

JFJ should be next out the door, but from everything I've heard, he's going to get a year's grace to "prove himself."

[Red Baron 0]

So does this mean you are going to become a Leaf fan now?

[CanadianChris 0]

Heh. Not as long as I'm living in Ottawa.

[CanadianChris 0]

Sportscentre is saying Paul Maurice is the frontrunner for the job. He's currently the coach of the AHL Toronto Marlies.

[Annabelle 0]

ferguson will make a pitch to scotty bowman, i'm sure.

 

he's the kinda guy who wants someone proven. maybe like a potentially fired marc crawford?

 

whoever said quinn will go to the isles is probably right. he'll get a chance to coach & gm.

 

i agree that quinn shoulda got the hook as a coach. the leafs did quit & he has never really been a great motivator. the olympics demonstrated that. but he could have stayed on as gm with jr. going. jr. is horrible. only o'connell from the bruins is a bigger moron than this guy. well, o'connell makes mike milbury seem like an executive genius. anyone who trades a a player IN THE YEAR he wins the mvp is a moron. moreover, he traded him for peanuts. brutal.

[treble 0]

I remember when they hired Paul Maurice to coach the Marlies, everyone was saying he was going to be the next Leafs coach.

 

I'm kinda surprised he was fired, though, I figured he'd saved his job with the late season push, and, that if he was gone, he'd 'resign'.

 

Ferguson has another year, if they miss the playoffs again, he's gone, too. I think I have a bit more faith in him than others do, since his hands were a bit tied this year with the salary cap so he did what he could do. I didn't expect much out of this season to begin with, so signings like Lindros and Allison was just throwing stuff at the wall to see what would stick.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

Well, who will the Leafs hire now, and where will Pat Quinn go? Boston?

 

Please no.

 

Why not? Don't let this last season change your prespective of the Quinn. Overall he is still one of the best coaches in the NHL.

I think Quinn's "old school" mentality worked a lot better in the pre-lockout NHL than in the current, fast paced NHL. I think the results of this past season, and the '06 Olympic games, are what one can expect if PQ is their coach.

 

I'm not sure if I'd be more surprised or more angry if the B's hired him as their new coach. Most likely angry.

 

Pat Quinn never really had the talent this year to work with. JFJ just got a bunch a old guys, how is that suppose to help Quinn adjust to the new NHL?

 

I think Boston has the young talent for Pat Quinn to work with.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

maybe like a potentially fired marc crawford?

 

My first thought was, as well, Quinn in Vancouver.

 

Most of the Leafs problems were not Quinn's fault, and more so Jr's. Quinn is not a bad coach by any means. However, it's simply the nature of the business that a coach has to go. Furthermore, it just seems to me that after nine years, it was tougher to get motivated for the same guy.

 

I think most of us kinda new he'd be gone if Canada didn't win the gold, which again, isn't exclusively his fault.

[Guest]

I think Boston has the young talent for Pat Quinn to work with.

I don't. They have Sturm, Bergeron, Boyes, the Stuarts, Toivonen and a bunch of pluggers. That's it.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I think Boston has the young talent for Pat Quinn to work with.

I don't. They have Sturm, Bergeron, Boyes, the Stuarts, Toivonen and a bunch of pluggers. That's it.

 

Boston IIRC have the cap space to sign a big time free agent and get a high draft pick.

[nl5xsk1 0]

I think Boston has the young talent for Pat Quinn to work with.

I don't. They have Sturm, Bergeron, Boyes, the Stuarts, Toivonen and a bunch of pluggers. That's it.

 

Boston IIRC have the cap space to sign a big time free agent and get a high draft pick.

Add Jurcina & Alberts - both were rookies this year - and a still-relatively-young Boynton on the blue-line, and Axelsson & Murray as NHL-caliber forwards to that list. They have a reasonable nucleus, they just picked really shitty players to complement that nucleus this year.

 

And having said all that, isn't Quinn more of a "veterans coach"? I don't normally think of him as the kind of guy that would be brought in to work with a young & up-and-coming team.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

I think Boston has the young talent for Pat Quinn to work with.

I don't. They have Sturm, Bergeron, Boyes, the Stuarts, Toivonen and a bunch of pluggers. That's it.

 

Boston IIRC have the cap space to sign a big time free agent and get a high draft pick.

Add Jurcina & Alberts - both were rookies this year - and a still-relatively-young Boynton on the blue-line, and Axelsson & Murray as NHL-caliber forwards to that list. They have a reasonable nucleus, they just picked really shitty players to complement that nucleus this year.

 

And having said all that, isn't Quinn more of a "veterans coach"? I don't normally think of him as the kind of guy that would be brought in to work with a young & up-and-coming team.

 

He did a good job working in Vancouver, who had a young and up and coming team, with Pavel Bure, and Trevor Linden.

[nl5xsk1 0]

EHME, having success with a young Pavel Bure & Trevor Linden doesn't necessarily prove that he has coaching skills. It'd be hard NOT to be successful when you're coaching a team built around those two.

[Red Baron 0]

Plus he had the Courtnall brothers (or just Geoff). Gino Ojdick, Dave Babych, Krik McClean, Cliff Ronning.

[Lt. Al Giardello 0]

EHME, having success with a young Pavel Bure & Trevor Linden doesn't necessarily prove that he has coaching skills. It'd be hard NOT to be successful when you're coaching a team built around those two.

 

But it proves my point about him being able to work with young players. Your overrating Linden in this post, he was never a franchise player IMO, but he was a good 2nd option to Bure. I bet alot of other coaches problay wouldn't have the same success as Quinn did with the Canucks. He was as close as you can get to winning the Stanley Cup.

 

Bergeron is a great talent and will be a franchise player. Pat Quinn could turn the Bruins into a playoff team.

[the max 0]

So could any respectable coach.

[nl5xsk1 0]

But it proves my point about him being able to work with young players. Your overrating Linden in this post, he was never a franchise player IMO, but he was a good 2nd option to Bure. I bet alot of other coaches problay wouldn't have the same success as Quinn did with the Canucks. He was as close as you can get to winning the Stanley Cup.

 

Bergeron is a great talent and will be a franchise player. Pat Quinn could turn the Bruins into a playoff team.

While the Canucks had a great post-season, let's not pretend that they were President's Trophy winners that year. They were barely a .500 team that got into the playoffs as a 6 or 7 seed, and then got hot at the right time. If my memory serves, that was the year that #8 San Jose knocked off #1 Detroit, too, making Vancouver's path to the Cup a bit easier.

[CanadianChris 0]

While the Canucks had a great post-season, let's not pretend that they were President's Trophy winners that year. They were barely a .500 team that got into the playoffs as a 6 or 7 seed, and then got hot at the right time. If my memory serves, that was the year that #8 San Jose knocked off #1 Detroit, too, making Vancouver's path to the Cup a bit easier.

Correct, although there were only three points between first and fourth in the West that year. They beat #2 Calgary (in an amazing series), #4 Dallas and #3 Toronto en route to the finals. They were only 1 game above .500 in the regular season, though.

[nl5xsk1 0]

Chris, that's awesome: "There were only three points between first and fourth in the West that year" ... but Quinn led the Canucks to the 7th seed!

 

What does one thing have to do with the other?!?

 

(but, having said that, they did beat three good teams to get to the Cup, and fought a good fight against a strong NYR team in one of the best Cup series in the last 2 decades)

[CanadianChris 0]

Chris, that's awesome: "There were only three points between first and fourth in the West that year" ... but Quinn led the Canucks to the 7th seed!

 

What does one thing have to do with the other?!?

 

(but, having said that, they did beat three good teams to get to the Cup, and fought a good fight against a strong NYR team in one of the best Cup series in the last 2 decades)

That was the point. Not that Quinn did a great coaching job in the regular season, but that the difference between playing first-place Detroit and fourth-place Dallas wasn't that great, so Detroit getting beat by San Jose didn't help as much as it would appear.