CanucksLegacy Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 The television was on in his West Vancouver home Sunday to monitor NHL free agency frenzy as Pat Quinn was still juggling congratulatory phone calls after becoming an Order of Canada recipient Friday. “It’s not something you sit there and aspire to,” said Quinn. “You know a lot of the great names who have been put forth for this honour. This is pretty significant. I did what I did in terms of my hockey career because it’s something I love and I looked forward to doing it every day, whether it was playing, managing or being involved. “The only thing I was thinking of is being the best I can be on a daily basis and hopefully you have a chance to influence other players — especially as a coach.” Although the Order of Canada may seem like the crowning glory — being recognized for a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation — don’t expect Quinn to ride into the sunset. As much as it’s an honour to be among the 69 new additions to the Order that now houses 5,000 members since its inception in 1967, Quinn isn’t going recline in his easy chair. He’s not going to fondly recall the glory of winning 2002 Winter Olympics gold, twice being a Jack Adams Trophy winner in 1980 and 1992 and nearly capturing a Stanley Cup as coach of the Vancouver Canucks in 1994 and commit it to the past by taking up a new hobby. In fact, Quinn wants to stay in the NHL at age 69. Maybe be like Scotty Bowman, another Order of Canada recipient, who works as a senior advisor for the Chicago Blackhawks. “I really miss my day to day involvement,” said Quinn, who is part owner of the WHL Vancouver Giants and on the Hockey Hall of Fame committee. “It’s been a good part of my life for so long and you get up every morning and you get an opportunity to almost start over again. I miss making a contribution somehow and I don’t know if that will happen again, but I would certainly be open-minded. I’ve been talking to a couple of teams about things that don’t interest me and I’m not demeaning scouting, but I want to be a balance guy. I like what’s happening to Scotty because you still have to have that feeling of doing something of self-importance.” As a tough defensive defenceman who sprung on the NHL scene in 1968, Quinn played 617 career NHL games for Toronto, Vancouver and Atlanta and compiled 19 goals, 114 points and 971 penalty minutes before retiring in 1977. The Hamilton native was property of Detroit back in the days of territorial rights and sponsorship and couldn’t come to contract terms. If it wasn’t for Ray Miron, an executive in the Maple Leafs organization, there might not have been a career in hockey. “If it wasn’t for Ray, I’d be back working in the steel company,” recalled Quinn. “Not that it would be bad, but it’s not what I wanted to do. After playing, Fred Shero opened my eyes to what coaching is about. My role was to dedicate my interest and my work and help them any way I could. He had an influence on an untold number of people and I was one of them.” Quinn started out behind the bench as an assistant to Shero with the Flyers in 1977. He also guided the Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton. And aside from going to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final with the Canucks in 1994, his exposure to the international stage left a lasting impression as he gained more notoriety on a national basis for the Order of Canada. There was gold in Salt Lake City in 2002 and gold with the under-18 and world junior teams in 2008 and 2009. And also gold at the World Cup in 2004. Quinn could toss his gum in disgust as good as anybody in the game but Shero taught him to pick his spots. “He would say be calm and unruffled on top but be paddling like hell underneath and that’s what I tried to be,” chuckled Quinn. “I would only yell at the officials. I never tried to show that emotion even though it was boiling inside.” The 2002 Olympic triumph showed another side of Quinn. So did coaching the kids on the world stage. “In Salt Lake, when that flag went up and our guys were singing and [Mario] Lemieux was draped in the flag, that was one of the best feelings,” said Quinn who has has eight international medal. “It was a tremendous thrill. So was coaching those kids in the heart of Russia (2008) and the following year in Ottawa and the gold medals.” Quinn credits a family foundation for laying the foundation for a strong work ethic. “I came out of the east end of Hamilton and I just had the right people sending me forward into this world,” he said. “I had a loving family that was supporting all the time and were there to help me out and weren’t looking for handouts. They gave me the kind of values we respect as Canadians, so I had that great springboard.” And if you think Quinn has lost his zest for the game, ask him about that Game 7 against the New York Rangers in 1994. He knows how close his players came to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. “They deserve better — they deserved to win,” stressed Quinn. “I’ve watched that game time and again and we were better than them.” bkuzma@theprovince.com twitter.com/benkuzma http://www.theprovince.com/touch/sports/story.html?id=6869523 Sorry if copy/paste formatting is wrong, on itouch. I wouldn't mind having Pat Quinn back in some capacity with the Canucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Niloc009 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Maybe we can sign him to be on our 3rd pair. Right now it looks like the best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KSniper88 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 breaking news av fired quinn signed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay86 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Maybe we can sign him to be on our 3rd pair. Right now it looks like the best option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeNiro Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 It would be nice for the Canucks to hire him in some capacity at least to get him back in the NHL. Always liked the guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyville88 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 He deserves another chance, but with a good team that has a legit chance of doing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackberries Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 rather have quinn than AV right now. at least our kids would develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smashian Kassian Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Lets fire AV and Hire Quinn as our coach, heck if Gillis doesnt make these "Bold Moves" he always talks about we can fire him too and Quinn can be the coach and GM. I wouldn't mine him being coach, I'm sure he could do a much better job with this roster than AV. Hopefully Gillis realizes this. But he won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bingo Chili Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 AV for 3rd round pick sign Quinn With the way things are going right now, Gillis can go with AV and have Quinn be the GM. Linden for Assistant coach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanucksinVic Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 breaking news av fired quinn signed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckGAME Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 fire gillis, sign Quinn Quinn constructed the 94 team, drafted bure, etc etc what has gillis done? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogolol Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 rather have quinn than AV right now. at least our kids would develop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan Subban Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Quinn>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>. Gillis right now.... Gillis better get something done god dammit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckGAME Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 At this rate, I think Gillis is planning to bring himself out of retirement. That's the big announcement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanucksinVic Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Maybe this is why Quinn said this. He saw that Gillis was doing nothing and since Quinn knows how Canucks fans are, said he'd like to come back because he knew the fans would want Gillis' head for doing nothing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackberries Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Yep, except for everyone that did develop under AV. Seriously who are talking about when you say this? Hodgson? I think he did pretty good under AV, sure didn't look as good when he went to Buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riffraff Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 quinn coming back to knock some heads and clean up this pile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALTtimegreat Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Quinn for coach or GM or both Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jester@wraiths.ca Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 At this rate, I think Gillis is planning to bring himself out of retirement. That's the big announcement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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