By Chris Iorfida, CBC Sports Online | Apr. 20,
2006
The consummate NHL survivor, Pat Quinn is once again on his own after guiding the Maple Leafs for the past eight years. (CP Photo)
Pat Quinn was the ultimate survivor in the jungle
that the Maple Leafs organization and hockey-mad Toronto often resembles,
but his time came to an end after eight years on Thursday.
The 63-year-old Quinn displayed the instincts and toughness he first
showed as an NHL player to last longer as Toronto coach than anyone
but Punch Imlach and Hap Day.
Quinn was responsible for helping bring the team back to respectability
and contention, but over time the view that he was one of the impediments
to achieving the ultimate goal of a championship became more frequent.
Coach of the Year pedigree
After retiring as a player in 1977, Quinn was a coach within two years
and became one of the best in the league over the next 15 years. While
a stint in Los Angeles was not successful, he took Philadelphia and
later Vancouver to the Stanley Cup final, and earned the Jack Adams
Trophy as coach of the year with both the Flyers and Canucks.
As Quinn's days as president and general manager with Vancouver wound
down in 1997, Toronto appeared in danger of sinking into the kind
of quagmire that afflicted the team for much of the 1980s.
After the Maple Leafs reached back-to-back conference finals ending
in 1994, a fallow period ensued. The team bowed out in the first round
of the playoffs the next two seasons, and then failed to qualify for
the postseason at all the following two years.
Toronto hired Quinn as coach on June 26, 1998. Despite having complete
control of hockey moves for most of his tenure in Vancouver, Quinn
was itching to get back behind the bench and seemingly happy to be
responsible solely as coach of the Maple Leafs.
"I wanted the opportunity to come here and be part of a team that
I believe is challenged to bring to this city, eventually, a Stanley
Cup,'' Quinn said.
"I know you hear that from every coach in the world, but that is our
goal.''
The Leafs turn it around
Quinn got immediate results on the ice, taking the team to the Eastern
Conference final against Buffalo in the first of six consecutive playoff
berths for the team. The Leafs would reach the penultimate round again
in 2002, losing to Carolina.
But in Toronto, the play on the ice is only part of the story. Egos,
shifting alliances and internecine squabbles within the club's unique
organizational structure have ensured things haven't been dull for
decades.
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment owns the club, and has been comprised
of interests which include the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, TD
Capital Group, Bell Globemedia and minority owner and board chair
Larry Tanenbaum's Kilmer Sports Inc.
The club's general manager needs to get moves approved by the MLSE
board, with debate more common than a simple rubber stamp.
Quinn joined the team as a coach, but it didn't stay that way for
long. Quinn entered with Mike Smith as the general manager and Ken
Dryden as club president, and over time no member of the triumvirate
got along particularly well with any other, with antipathy reported
to be a more accurate assessment in some directions.
By all accounts, Dryden helped push Smith out, but with a strong backer
in then-owner Steve Stavro, Quinn assumed the GM duties over Dryden
in 1999.
A rocky tenure as GM
Quinn's statement when he was officially named to the post in July
of that year reflected the fuzzy lines and job descriptions within
the organization.
"To me, I'm still the coach and that's my prime responsibility," he
said. "It's just that my focus on that job changes a little bit. I
hope to be able to still have my coach's hat and when the opportunity
for a bigger picture of the organization comes into place I hope to
do that.''
The Leafs continued to thrive for a time, but since the 2002 near-miss,
Toronto has failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs,
seemingly only able to beat the Ottawa Senators in the postseason.
While Quinn's lustre was bright after coaching Team Canada to Olympic
gold in Salt Lake City, the dual GM-coach had long since become an
anomaly in an NHL where contract administration had become more important
than ever. The calls grew loud for Quinn to resign from one of his
Leafs posts in 2003, both from fans and from Dryden and others within
the organization.
Dryden would get his way, but would eventually depart for federal
politics.
A general manager search ultimately yielded noted hockey scion and
lawyer John Ferguson Jr., then part of management in St. Louis. It
has been reported that MLSE president Richard Peddie was most enthusiastic
with the choice, with Quinn favouring candidates who had previously
served as a GM in the league.
When announcing the firing on Thursday, Ferguson denied that his relationship
with Quinn soured over time.
"That's a media-created fiction. Our relationship was productive and
professional," Ferguson said.
Clearly, there was evidence as the Leafs stumbled late this season
that communication was once again a problem within the organization.
The pair didn't seem to have the same understanding of Ed Belfour's
status when the veteran goaltender's back gave out.
Quinn's loyalty hurt him
With respect to goaltending, cynics in Toronto suggested that Quinn
benefited greatly from the stellar netminding of Curtis Joseph and
Belfour, which elevated an otherwise average team. It is a mostly
unfair criticism given how essential goaltending is to a team's success,
akin to denigrating Darryl Sutter's coaching abilities in Calgary
just because Miikka Kiprusoff is such a vital part of the team.
What were more legitimate observations were the fact that his Leafs
teams often seemed to play without a system, and his unfailing loyalty
to veteran players was nearly as often a liability as an asset.
Quinn often seemed unwilling or unable given the choices at hand to
phase in a young player or two every season like veteran-laden and
successful clubs such as Detroit, Dallas, Colorado and New Jersey
have done.
That failing seemed to be evidenced early this week when Quinn baffled
reporters by indicating the new salary restrictions had hamstrung
Toronto this season. Several other teams comparable to the Maple Leafs
had excelled, but as in Boston, structure and strategy were being
confused as an explanation for underachieving.
Of course, the comments could have also been a last-ditch attempt
to curry favour and publicly absolve Ferguson of last summer's ultimately
unsatisfying acquisitions of Jeff O'Neill, Alexander Khavanov, Eric
Lindros and Jason Allison.
Quinn has had various health problems during his tenure and has often
appeared drained under the unrelenting grind in Toronto, but it wouldn't
be surprising if a team with a clear hierarchy and secure, veteran
executives are interested in hiring him at some point.
And while he has often been prickly with the media, he can be an articulate
and engaging interview when relaxed, with hockey broadcasters undoubtedly
interested in his services.
The long and impressive career of John Brian Patrick Quinn to date
suggests that whatever happens, he'll do more than survive.
