The hockey world mourns Pat Quinn: 'He was a great man'

Pat Quinn was a big man with a big presence and a big passion. He was a player, coach and executive. He was chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame. John Davidson, chairman of the selection committee, said the other day: “The ‘Big Irishman’ is a guy who loves the game so much that when he walks in, you know hockey’s in the room.”

When Quinn wasn’t in the room last week, you knew something was wrong. Quinn would not miss a Hall of Fame induction if he could help it. Now we find out he has died at age 71 after a long illness, and we appreciate what else was big about him – his heart, his impact.

Story after story is being told not just about the games he won, but the people he touched. Statement after statement is being released by institution after institution – the Hockey Hall of Fame, the National Hockey League, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Vancouver Canucks, the Toronto Maple Leafs …

“Deeply saddened,” said Jim Gregory, vice chairman of the Hall.

“Heartfelt condolences,” said Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL.

“Will never be forgotten,” said Marcel Aubut, president of the COC.

“Sad day for our sport,” said Ed Snider, chairman of the Flyers.

“Lost a great man,” said Trevor Linden, president of the Canucks.

“Tremendous loss,” said Brendan Shanahan, president of the Leafs.

Quinn was a giant. Listed at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, he played 606 games as a defenseman in the NHL for the Leafs, Canucks and Atlanta Flames. He went on to coach 1,400 games in the NHL for the Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Canucks, Leafs and Edmonton Oilers, and he racked up 684 wins, fifth-most all-time. Twice, he won the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. He was GM of the Canucks and Leafs.

No, he never won the Stanley Cup. But he won a Memorial Cup as a player with the Edmonton Oil Kings in 1963. He reached the Cup final twice as a coach – and went as far as Game 7 with the Canucks in 1994 – and made the conference finals two other times. He won Olympic gold as coach of Team Canada in 2002, ending a 50-year drought, and won the World Cup in 2004. He won a Memorial Cup as part-owner of the Vancouver Giants in 2007. He won gold as coach of Canada’s under-18 team in 2008 and its under-20 team in 2009.

The man could coach veteran superstars and developing youngsters. He could be gruff and tough, yet funny and warm. He could connect with all kinds of people – execs to coaches to players to reporters. He mentored men like Brian Burke, Ken Hitchcock, George McPhee, Jacques Martin and Ron Wilson. Many players knew him not just as a coach, but as a friend. The media knew him for disliking interviews yet giving insightful answers, anyway.

“I thought Pat Quinn was very similar to Pat Burns as a coach,” said former Leafs captain Mats Sundin last Monday night, before Burns was finally inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumously. “He had a presence in the dressing room that demanded respect and had a way of talking and getting the guys ready for each game that really got the best out of the teams that he coached.”

“He was a great man,” said Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, who succeeded Quinn as Canada’s Olympic coach and learned a lot from him. “Unbelievable presence. Intelligent, intelligent guy. Was great at handing the media in Toronto, maybe the last guy who was able to do that. Spent his whole life in the game.”

Quinn belongs in the Hall of Fame himself – Cup or no Cup – but he was the kind of man who found pleasure and pride in putting others in the Hall, especially those whose careers he affected. The list is long: Sundin, Ed Belfour, Pavel Bure, Doug Gilmour …

“He’s a very intelligent hockey man who has an understanding of a lot of different areas of the sport,” Davidson said. “He was obviously very, very competitive when he coached and when he played. But he’s a guy that obviously wants to be around the game. When you get involved with the Hall of Fame, or on the board or chairman of the board, it takes time and he wants to put that time in. He wants to be a part of it. It’s a great part of his life.”

Two years ago, Quinn dialed Sundin in Sweden. He had helped him blossom as a player in Toronto. They had gone through so much, enjoyed so much success. Now the big man had big news.

“He called me and said, ‘Mats, it’s Pat Quinn. You’re going to be elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame,’ ” Sundin said. “I think we were both crying at the time a little bit on the phone. We had some special moments together. There was a lot of mutual respect.”

There is a lot of crying today.

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