Dan Quinn (ice hockey)

Lore & Background

Quinn began his NHL career with the Calgary Flames, who drafted him 13th overall in 1983. He made his debut halfway through the next season, scoring 52 points in 54 games. In his third season, he scored 30 goals and 72 points, then added 15 points in 18 playoff games as the Flames reached the Stanley Cup Final, where they were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens. On November 12, 1986, Quinn was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Mike Bullard.

Vancouver Canucks

In Pittsburgh, he achieved his greatest success, posting a career-high 40 goals in 1987–88 and a career-high 94 points the following season. After struggling with 29 points in the first 41 games of 1989–90, he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in a six-player swap. He scored at nearly a point-per-game pace after the deal, but his production slipped the next year, and he was traded to the St. Louis Blues in a seven-player blockbuster trade.

St. Louis Blues

Quinn finished the year with 11 points in 14 games and added 11 more in 13 playoff games, but it was not enough to secure a spot in the lineup. After the season, the Blues lost defensemen Harold Snespts and Scott Stevens, creating a hole on defense. To address this, Quinn was packaged with Rod Brind'Amour and traded to the Philadelphia Flyers for Murray Baron and Ron Sutter. While Brind'Amour led the Flyers in scoring, Quinn struggled, managing just 37 points in 67 games—the worst production of his career.

Minnesota North Stars

He failed to find a new club over the summer before signing with the Minnesota North Stars on the eve of the 1992–93 season. Quinn got off to a slow start with no goals and four assists in his first eleven games before his season and career were derailed by an allegation of rape. Quinn maintained that the sex was consensual.

Police did not press charges, but the team released him, citing a violation of team curfew. Unable to find an NHL team willing to take a chance, Quinn signed in Switzerland for 1993–94, finishing just two points shy of leading the team in scoring despite playing eleven fewer games. This production attracted NHL attention, and on March 15, 1994, his hometown Ottawa Senators signed him. He scored 7 goals in 13 games to finish the season.

Los Angeles Kings

Quinn then signed with the Los Angeles Kings, though an NHL lockout allowed him to return to Switzerland for seven games before the NHL started. With the Kings, he scored 31 points in 44 games, third on the team in scoring. After the year, he signed again with Ottawa.

With the Senators, he produced at close to a point per game, setting a then-team record with a six-point game versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. Despite this, the Senators traded him to Philadelphia after 28 games, where he produced 24 points. His production dipped in Philadelphia with 22 points in 35 games, despite briefly playing on the top line with John LeClair and Eric Lindros. He left the Flyers as a free agent and signed a one-year deal to return to Pittsburgh, but after 16 games with no goals and three assists, the Penguins released him, and he announced his retirement from hockey in November 1996.

Reader's Guide

Dan Quinn's NHL career spanned 14 seasons and eight teams, marked by high-scoring peaks and abrupt declines. His most productive years came with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he recorded career highs of 40 goals and 94 points. However, his career was also defined by frequent trades and a controversial end. After being released by the Minnesota North Stars following an allegation of rape—which he maintained was consensual and for which police did not press charges—Quinn revived his career in Switzerland and later with the Ottawa Senators, where he set a team record with a six-point game.

His second stint with the Philadelphia Flyers was less successful, and a return to Pittsburgh ended his playing days. After hockey, Quinn became a professional golfer, winning the American Century Celebrity Golf Classic five times (1992, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2012) and caddying for John Daly at the U.S. Open in 2000, as well as for Ernie Els and Joost Luiten. He competed in four Web.com Tour events but never made the 36-hole cut. His legacy is that of a talented but itinerant forward whose career was cut short by off-ice controversy, followed by a notable second act in celebrity golf.