Pat Quinn (ice hockey)

Playing career

Quinn began junior hockey with the Hamilton Tiger Cubs and Hamilton Kilty B's in the Ontario Hockey Association. After high school, he accepted a scholarship from Michigan Tech but was ruled ineligible by the NCAA because he had already signed his rights to the Detroit Red Wings. He instead joined the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Central Alberta Hockey League, helping the club win the 1963 Memorial Cup alongside future NHL player Glen Sather. Turning pro in 1963–64, Quinn played in several minor leagues before being called up by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1968.

In the 1969 playoffs, he delivered an open-ice bodycheck on Bobby Orr that left Orr unconscious and sparked a bench-clearing brawl. After two seasons with the Maple Leafs, the Vancouver Canucks claimed him in the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft. He played two seasons in Vancouver, then was claimed by the Atlanta Flames in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft and served as team captain. An ankle injury forced his retirement in 1977.

Management and coaching

Quinn became an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1977 under Fred Shero, then coached the Flyers' AHL affiliate, the Maine Mariners. He returned to the Flyers as head coach late that season, and in 1979–80 led the team to a record 35-game unbeaten streak and a trip to the 1980 Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the New York Islanders. He won the Jack Adams Award that year. After two more seasons, he was replaced late in 1981–82.

Quinn briefly left hockey to attend law school at Widener University, then became head coach of the Los Angeles Kings in 1984, finishing his degree at the University of San Diego. In his first season, the Kings returned to the playoffs after a two-year absence but were swept by the eventual champion Edmonton Oilers. In December 1986, Quinn signed to become President and General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks for 1987–88 while still under contract with the Kings.

NHL President John Ziegler suspended Quinn for the rest of the season, barred him from taking over Vancouver's operations until June, and prohibited him from coaching anywhere in the NHL until 1990–91, citing a conflict of interest. The Kings unsuccessfully sued the Canucks for tampering.

Personal life

Born in 1943 and raised in east Hamilton, Ontario, Pat Quinn was a cousin of wrestler "Big" John Quinn. He earned a B.A. in economics from York University in 1972, three years after starting his NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs. After retiring as a player in 1977, he nearly pursued law school but instead became a coach for the Philadelphia Flyers. When the Flyers let him go almost five years later, he took the spring law school exam, and because he was still under contract, the team covered his tuition. He went on to get a J.D. from Widener University School of Law in Delaware. Quinn never worked as a lawyer, but his legal training helped him in executive jobs with the Vancouver Canucks and the Maple Leafs. He passed away at Vancouver General Hospital on November 23, 2014, after a long illness, and had missed the 2014 Hockey Hall of Fame induction ceremony due to his health.

Honours and legacy

Quinn won the Memorial Cup as a player with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 1963 and as a minority owner of the Vancouver Giants in 2007. He received the Jack Adams Award as NHL coach of the year in 1980 with the Philadelphia Flyers and again in 1992 with the Vancouver Canucks. Internationally, he coached Team Canada to gold medals at the 2002 Winter Olympics, the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships, and the 2009 World Junior Championship, as well as the World Cup championship in 2004.

He was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada in 2012 and inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2016. Quinn is credited with popularizing the terms 'upper body injury' and 'lower body injury' to describe player injuries, which he first used during the 1999 Stanley Cup Playoffs regarding defenceman Dmitri Yushkevich. He said he created the term 'out of the blue' because he was tired of discussing injuries and concerned about Yushkevich's safety.

The NHL permits these descriptors as they do not violate policy against misleading information while protecting player privacy, though their use remains controversial. Quinn also served on the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee and became its Chairman in 2013.