Hockey legend and longtime West Vancouver resident Pat Quinn passed away Sunday night at Vancouver General Hospital following a lengthy illness. He was 71 years old.
Condolences and tributes poured in Monday for the Hamilton, Ont. native who as a coach posted successful stints in Toronto, Philadelphia and Vancouver — including a trip to the 1994 Stanley Cup finals with the Canucks — as well as a gold medal turn for Team Canada at the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in 2002. Earlier this year Quinn was named to the Order Of BC. He was also a co-owner of the Vancouver Giants, and the WHL team today is collecting messages for the Quinn family by email at [email protected].
Here’s a look at Quinn’s influence on hockey in Vancouver — and the city’s influence on him — from longtime Vancouver Sun hockey writer Iain MacIntyre:
Iain MacIntyre: Pat Quinn was Canucks' royalty
Pat Quinn was the nearest thing to a king that the Vancouver Canucks ever had.
With Trevor Linden as his prince, Quinn not only transformed the National Hockey League franchise, he pretty much saved it after his arrival in 1987. When he was fired a decade later by owner John McCaw, who quickly tried to hire him back as coach, Quinn left behind an expectation of excellence that he installed and remains to this day.
Quinn died Sunday at age 71 after a lengthy illness, but his impact on the Canuck organization is still evident. Subsequent general managers Brian Burke and Dave Nonis were originally hired by Quinn to their first jobs in NHL management. Linden, who captained Quinn's team that went to the 1994 Stanley Cup final, is now the Canucks' president of hockey operations. Chief operating officer Victor de Bonis started in the Canucks' finance department under Quinn and said in an interview last winter that it was like meeting the Pope when he was introduced to the boss.
Quinn commanded a room — any room — like few others. He commanded hockey teams, too. Including earlier assignments with the Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings and later ones with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers, Quinn finished his NHL coaching career with a record of 684-528-188.
Honoured with the rest of the 1994 Canuck team at the Heritage Classic game last February in Vancouver, Quinn made it clear that no place touched his heart like this one did.
"I worked for some good organizations, but (they did) not have the influence on me and the emotional attachment that the Canucks did," he said. "People always ask me (about the 1994 Cup final): 'What do you remember about the games?' Well, I don't remember much about the games but I remember the people."
Those people remember Quinn, too.
"If you think about a great general or a great president, there's just something about those people that elevate them forever," de Bonis said before the Canucks honoured Quinn last April. "And I think that's what Pat had. I don't think if he even knew he had it."
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