AJC > Sports Thrashers > Blog > Archives > 2008 > April > 30
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Toronto’s A Tough Crowd, Too
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I found this Scott Burnside piece the other day and thought I would toss it into the ring of discussion. What I wish to draw your attention to would be item #4, the part about Pat Quinn and his success with Canada’s Under18 World Championship team. Their 8-0 success leads Burnside to wonder if Quinn’s stock has risen in the eyes of some NHL franchise given this success with the young players.
Well, given that our team is one of those currently accepting applications for a new head coach, lets nose into Mr. Quinn’s resume some, shall we?
Now, most of you already know of the history of one John Brian Patrick Quinn, including his five years as an Atlanta Flame. And most have formed an opinion as whether or not he would be a good fit here. Certainly a man with 19 seasons under his belt as a head coach with 15 trips to the post-season and two appearances in the Cup Finals in that capacity deserves a look…especially one who, if memory serves, seemed to be interested in the job here after it became open last fall.
First off, his success this spring with the U18 squad isn’t his first such internationally. In the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City he coached the Canadian team to their first gold medal since the first term of the Eisenhower administration. Then in 2004 he led Team Canada to victory in the World Cup of Hockey going 6-0 in that campaign.
His most recent NHL coaching gig was in Toronto where he amassed a 300-196-52-26 record in seven seasons. After the 2005-06 campaign he was fired following the one and only time a Quinn-coached Leafs team did not qualify for the post-season. That season the team went 41-33-8 for 90 points…missing the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference by 2 points.
(Trivia question: Who else in the east finished the ‘05-‘06 season with the exact same 41-33-8 record for 90 points)?
So…Quinn compiled 7 winning seasons in as many seasons in Toronto…averaging almost 97 points…twice took Toronto to the conference finals…never finished lower than 90 points…three times with 100 points or better…and the one and only time he fails to make the playoffs… he gets the pink slip.
Wow…and I thought Vancouver was a tough crowd!
Yeah, remember David Nonis being shown the gate a few weeks back after general managing the Canucks to three straight seasons with winning records but only making the post-season once. Horrible…simply horrible! I mean…only one trip to the playoffs in three seasons? I mean, it’s not like it he had a single post-season appearance in…oh… a decade’s worth of work yielding zero post-season wins…but I digress.
Back to the point… Quinn also has experience as a general manager. In Vancouver he held that position from ‘87 to ‘91 before he was able to return to coaching, (he was banned from serving behind the bench during that time by then NHL President John Ziegler). Also, much of his time with Toronto he was both head coach and general manager.
Hmmm, that sounds familiar…so, it CAN be done successfully?
Thus, Pat Quinn’s resume shows years of head coaching experience with success as well as proven results in the front office. And, it seems, he wants to have a go at it down here.
Personally, I am very interested in what he could bring to the team. Not just as a head coach but as a general manger…if Bruce Levenson were ever to be struck by lightning and have an ounce of hockey sense bolted into his head causing him to think to himself, “Gee, a decade with the same GM and no playoff wins to show for it? Maybe this is un-good”.
Wandering off, he may then say, “Gosh, that hurt…I’m so woozy I don’t know if I’m heading in the right direction or not”.
Anyway, I’d like to see a Pat Quinn coached Thrashers team.
Of course, I’d LOVE to see a Thrashers team coached by John Anderson who was hired by general manger Pat Quinn.
Chances of that happening? I dunno…what’s the forecast?
Riddle Me This
So, what do the Atlanta Thrashers and the Pittsburgh Penguins have in common?
Neither team has lost a game in the post-season this spring!
Yup, the Penguins skated to a 5-3 victory in Madison Square Garden Tuesday night and took a 3-0 series lead over the Rangers. This after sweeping the Ottawa Senators in the opening round.
Marian Hossa had a goal with an assist and has 3 goals and 8 points so far in the seven games played after the Thrashers season ended. Pascal Dupuis chipped in with a helper himself on Hossa’s tally and has a goal and 4 points overall.
Pittsburgh fans that may feel led to may send “Thank You” cards and other well wishes to:
The Atlanta Thrasher / Atlanta Spirit LLC
101 Marietta Street
Suite 1900
Atlanta, GA 30303
Attn: Don Waddell
Sharks On The Endangered Species List
Following the 2-1 OT loss in Dallas Tuesday night the San Jose Sharks now find themselves in the deep waters of a 3-0 series abyss. As you know, your humble blog host picked the Sharks to win the Stanley Cup this year…but it ain’t looking so good right now. I picked them because I liked their team defense so much but so far it’s the Stars blueline that is shining!
Should San Jose fall short at this point it would be their 3 consecutive second-round exit from the Great Cup Quest after making it to the conference finals in ’03-’04. This is considered disappointing considering the fact that the Sharks have finished with over 100 points in each of those seasons except ’05-’06 when they gained 99.
There have been some rumblings about Ron Wilson’s job being on the line if they failed to shake the “under-achiever” tag this spring, (again, we could have it so bad). If so, we’ll kick his name around here..oh…next week sometime.
5 from 65 = 5 from 9
Not to rub any more salt in this wound but…Braydon Coburn has 5 assists in nine playoff games so far this post-season with the Philadelphia Flyers. Alexei Zhitnik had 5 assists in the 65 regular season games he played for Atlanta this past season.
Just sayin’….
