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Pat Quinn: The Legend


TOMapleLaughs

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The Sundstrom thread has me thinking... Time for another props to Pat Quinn thread.

The rise:

-Pre-Quinn: Canucks laughing stock of league.

-January, 1987: Pat Quinn Ditched LA to takeover Canucks as President and GM.

-Traded Sundstrom for McLean and Greg Adams.

-Traded Craig Coxe for Brian Bradley.

-Drafted Dixon Ward.

-Drafted Gary Valk.

-Drafted Trevor Linden.

-Re-signed Tony Tanti.

-Brought back Harold Snepts.

-Drafted Pavel Bure.

-Traded Tanti, Buskas and Pederson for Dan Quinn, Andrew McBain, Dave Capuano

-Traded a 2nd rounder for Lumme.

-Drafted Gino Odjick, Jiri Slegr, Petr Nedved.

-Traded a 4th rounder for Gerald Diduck.

-Traded Bradley for Tom Kurvers.

-Feb 1st, 1991: Takes over coaching duties, as well as being President and GM.

-Trades Ron Stern and Kevin Guy for Dana Murzyn.

-Trades Dan Quinn and Garth Butcher for Cliff Ronning, Geoff Courtnall, Robert Dirk and Sergio Momesso.

-Drafts Alex Stojanov.

-Trades Kurvers for Dave Babych.

-Signs Ryan Walter.

-Trades cash for Tom Fergus.

-Drafts Adrian Aucoin.

-Drafts Mike Peca.

-Brings back Rick Vaive.

-Re-signs Gerald Diduck.

-Acquires Kay Whitmore.

-Claims Tim Hunter off waivers.

-Trades Robert Kron for Murray Craven and Scott Walker.

-Trades Ward for Jim Carson.

-Claims Martin Gelinas off waivers.

-Claims Brian Glynn off waivers.

-Loses Nedved to offersheet. Compensation: Craig Janney and Dave Scatchard.

-Trades Janney for Nathan Lafayette, Bret Hedican and Jeff Brown.

-Canucks go to finals and lose against the Rangers in 7.

The fall:

-Drafts Mattias Ohlund.

-Drafts Bill Muckalt.

-Promotes Rick Ley to head coach.

-Trades Craven for Chritian Ruutu.

-Trades Lafayette for Cory Hirsch.

-Trades Slegr for Roman Oksuita.

-Trades Adams for Russ Courtnall.

-Drafts Brent Sopel.

-Drafts Peter Schaeffer.

-Trades Sergio Momesso for Mike Ridley.

-Trades Mike Peca for Alex Mogilny.

-Acquires Esa Tikkanen.

-Trades Brown for Frantisek Kucera.

-Signs Glenn Anderson.

-Trades Whitmore for Joey Kocur.

-Trades Stojanov for Markus Naslund.

-Loses Cliff Ronning to free agency.

-Loses Tim Hunter to free agency.

-Claimes Alex Semak and Chris Joseph from waivers.

-Trades Jassen Cullimore for Donald Brashear.

-Trades Russ Courtnall and Esa Tikkanen for Brian Noonan and Sergei Nemchinov.

-Drafts Matt Cooke.

-Signs Mark Messier, Lubomir Vaic, Arturs Irbe, Grant Ledyard.

-Signs Mattias Ohlund (matched offersheet)

-Re-Signs Markus Naslund and Bret Hedican.

-Fired by John McCaw.

Overall:

Pat Quinn's uncanny ability to perform ripoff trade after ripoff trade was remarkable. Under his tenure, the Canucks transformed from a bush league joke to a league power. Sure, there was more to be done, but considering how little was done beforehand, you can say that Pat Quinn built this franchise.

imo 'The fall' happened when he stopped bringing in heart and soul players and instead went for speed and skill. Adams for Courtnall is one move he admitted was a big mistake.

And then there's Messier. Was that Quinn's call?

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Agreed that it seemed like McCaw wanted an instant legacy with the Messier signing. (And then he quietly stepped aside while it blew up. (Wondering if he'd have been more visible around here if Messier had panned out?))

Whether it was Gretzky or Messier, it looked like McCaw wanted a big name to market. Esp. if Bure was on his way out.

Either way, Quinn's goof on Gretzky was near the end of his time here. A rebuild was inevitable and Gretzky wasn't stopping it.

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Pat Quinn as a coach is also notable. It's one thing to assemble a bunch of vets, but quite another to get them on the same page. Quinn (and to an extent, Crow) was able to motivate his players to perform beyond their expectations. The level of respect for Quinn was quite high.

Is that entirely there for AV? Not sure. His approach seems far more cerebral.

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I like the perspective of the rise and fall. I don't necessarily agree with it all, but certainly the trade of Slegr for Roman Oksuita was a fall.

I became a Canucks fan early in the Quinn era, and what he achieved in a short amount of time was quite remarkable. And yes, he chose players who had tons of heart. Alex Burrows sure seems a lot like a modern day Martin Gelinas, with perhaps a bit more scoring touch.

If AV ever gets the axe, I'd love to see the big Irish man get one more crack at what he started in the early 90s.

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Some of the "falls" that I disagree with:

-Drafts Mattias Ohlund. How can this be considered a fall? One of the best Canucks dmen, period.

-Trades Lafayette for Cory Hirsch. PING Lafayette had to go

-Trades Adams for Russ Courtnall. It was tough to see Adams go, but having both Courtnalls on the same team was pretty cool. Russ could skate faster backwards than others could skate forward. Adams has a shortened career.. not a fall to me.

-Trades Mike Peca for Alex Mogilny. Peca was good, but you can't blame Quinn for wanting Mogilny, who delivered the much needed offense when Bure was out with injuries.

-Trades Stojanov for Markus Naslund. Seriously? How could anyone call that a 'fall' when it's probably the best trade in Canucks history?

-Trades Jassen Cullimore for Donald Brashear. Cullimore was slow, and couldn't win a fight to save his life. He was a big pilon. Brashear brought it in a time when enforcers were still needed, and when Gino was done.

-Signs Mattias Ohlund (matched offersheet) This was a GOOD move.

-Re-Signs Markus Naslund. .... ?

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Some of the "falls" that I disagree with:

-Drafts Mattias Ohlund. How can this be considered a fall? One of the best Canucks dmen, period.

-Trades Lafayette for Cory Hirsch. PING Lafayette had to go

-Trades Adams for Russ Courtnall. It was tough to see Adams go, but having both Courtnalls on the same team was pretty cool. Russ could skate faster backwards than others could skate forward. Adams has a shortened career.. not a fall to me.

-Trades Mike Peca for Alex Mogilny. Peca was good, but you can't blame Quinn for wanting Mogilny, who delivered the much needed offense when Bure was out with injuries.

-Trades Stojanov for Markus Naslund. Seriously? How could anyone call that a 'fall' when it's probably the best trade in Canucks history?

-Trades Jassen Cullimore for Donald Brashear. Cullimore was slow, and couldn't win a fight to save his life. He was a big pilon. Brashear brought it in a time when enforcers were still needed, and when Gino was done.

-Signs Mattias Ohlund (matched offersheet) This was a GOOD move.

-Re-Signs Markus Naslund. .... ?

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