Pat is our coach, his record speaks for itself and that record remains
four games over .500 right now. There are lots of ways we can find to
make this club better. (John Ferguson Jr., GM Toronto Maple Leafs)
Let's parse this statement from JFJ.
"Pat is our coach." Quinn has been head coach of the Toronto Maple
Leafs since 1998. He was previously also the Leafs' GM and part of an odd
management triumviate that included club President Ken Dryden and
vice-president Bill Watters. Quinn lost his GM hat in 1993 during a
management and ownership shakeup. Ferguson did not say Quinn is his coach, because Ferguson had nothing to do with Quinn's hiring. Ferguson did hire Paul Maurice, formerly of the Carolina Hurricanes to coach the Toronto Marlies, the Leafs' AHL affiliate.
"...his record speaks for itself..." Quinn's 539 games behind the Toronto bench is third longest in club history, behind Punch Imlach (760) and Hap Day (546). In his 7 years as the helm the Leafs are 283-183-55. The team has made the playoffs in every season Quinn has been in Toronto. In 1998-99, his first year, Quinn's team went to the Conference finals where they lost to Buffalo. The returned to the Conference finals in 2002, only to fall to the Carolina Hurricane. Quinn does have the distinction of leading his Leafs to three playoff victories over the rival Ottawa Senators in 2001, 2002, and 2004. The Leafs are Quinn's 4th team, he also served as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers (1978-1982), LA Kings (1984-1987) and the Vancouver Canucks (1990-1996).
Like any NHL coach, Quinn has received his fair share of criticism over the years. While he's acknowledged as a terrific motivator, he's often faulted for sticking with certain players too long, and for failing to give young players and rookies a chance to contribute. Kyle Wellwood (+6) leads the team in plus-minus, but is averaging less than 12 minutes a game while Jason Allison (-7) plays close to 18 minutes. To be fair to Quinn, he has noticed that Tie Domi now expends more energy chirping at the referees than he does skating, and his playing time is being cut back
"There are lots of ways we can find to make this club better." Ferguson may be referring to Quinn, but there are no shortage of citizens of the Leaf Nation who think the General Manager should be doing a little soul searching and self-reflection. The signings of Eric Lindros, Jason Allison & Jeff O'Neil (-15!) had alot of observers scratching their heads. Ferguson defied logic in making the Leafs an older and slower team, while at the same time failing to bring in some help for Brian McCabe and Tomas Kaberle, two of the league's most overworked defencemen. Lindros rewarded Ferguson with a great start, and he played very well when Mats Sundin was injured, but has been out for weeks with a wrist injury that some believe may prevent his return to the lineup any time soon.
Quinn is in the first year of a two-year contract extension and is the highest paid coach in the league. Next month he will be in Italy in February as the head coach of Team Canada. Look for Ferguson sit tight until the offseason before making a coaching decision. Quinn has earned at least that courtesy. With the club now sitting in 9th place and out of the playoffs Quinn will relish his upcoming European travels and the opportunity to get away from the badgering of the Leaf Nation and their media henchmen.
If there really are problems in the dressing room, then this could be trouble.
Also, noting the plus/minus thing. Allison and Tucker were -10 in the first couple weeks playing with O'Neill and both are pluses since. Further, the Leafs PP was non-existant when Allison was injured.
Posted by: Randy Charles Morin | January 23, 2006 at 04:12 PM
I'm not hearing reports of real problems in the room & it is hard to imagine anything Quinn could not handle, especially since he surely has Sundin, Belfour & McCabe (plus Tucker & Domi) in his corner. Good observation that Allison's minus rating was accumulated early - thanks for pointing that out. Not sure about the PP claim though, the Leafs were 4 for 23 (17.3%) in 4 games Allison missed, not great, but only slightly below their season average.
Posted by: MT | January 23, 2006 at 04:59 PM
The 'record' of Pat Quinn stands for itself?
That means you're looking backwards and not quite in the present.
An NHL team making the same mistakes, stupid penalties, the sloppiness, lazyness of some players is beyond me. Professionals? Feh.
Belfour sucks out after 3 goals and just doesn't give a hang. Hey, I'll just collect my paycheck and keep the net warm.
Well, it's time Quinn was dumped. Immediately.
The team has clearly tuned him out....yah, yah, Pat, sure, sure, I'll watch that. Not.
A pathetic team to watch, sorry, I correct myself, I can't watch.
Oh and soon it won't matter if all Leaf games move to Leafs tv. Hah.
No great loss, really.
Keep dithering eh?
Posted by: alice | January 25, 2006 at 09:02 AM
Pat Quinn is one of the most talanted end experienced coaches. But this for sure only my opinion, i wanna mention.
Posted by: Sally | March 05, 2006 at 01:07 PM
Thankyou very much Mr.Quinn. You brought back hockey to all leaf fans. I feel really strong that John Furguson should have been the one that was fired and you should have taken his job. What he did as a G.M did not impress me. Wheelchairs should have been included as a signing bonus to the players that he had signed. You over acheived for the players that you had to work with.I wish you the best of luck in the future and when you do return to Toronto coaching another team I know that you'll get your troops up and shove it up Johns ass. Take care MR.QUINN, you will be greatly missed.
Posted by: Don Levinsky | April 20, 2006 at 11:15 PM