Debunking the Myth of the Mighty Quinn

This past Thursday, Hockey Canada announced that Pat Quinn would be leading Canada's best junior aged players at the World Junior Hockey Championships come Christmas in Ottawa. This announcement came after Hockey Canada's first two choices, Pete DeBoer and Benoit Groulx took head coaching jobs with the Florida Panthers and Rochester Americans respectively.

Since the announcement I've heard the same old criticism that has followed Quinn dating back to the end of his tenure with the Leafs and I decided this would be as good a time as any to speak out in defence of the big Irishman... not that he needs it.

Although I call it the Myth of the Mighty Quinn, I do recognize that this particular myth is rooted somewhat in reality. It is the circumstance under which Pat Quinn became the big bad murderer of all things youthful that makes it so absurd that this label has followed the man for so long. Quinn was a hero in Toronto until 2003, he rescued the Leafs from the three headed monster that was Ken Dryden, Mike Smith and Anders Hedberg, he gave the franchise an identity they've lacked since his departure, and took them as far as anyone has since 1967. His downfall coincided with (and this is the circumstance you must be forced to fully comprehend people) the MLSE power shift from Steve Stavro as majority owner to The Ontario Teacher's Pension Fund and the emergence of CEO Marcel Marceau Richard Peddie. This began the long and embarassing exodus of the Mighty Quinn and the myth that would follow him.

When it was announced on February 11 2003 that Steve Stavro had sold his stock in MLSE the writing was on the wall for Quinn. This was accentuated in an article run by CBC sports the very next day suggesting that Quinn's role would be revisited under the new ownership structure. As General Manager, Quinn for the most part had autonomous control of Hockey Operations. He consulted with CEO Richard Peddie and President Ken Dryden but did not need their approval. He reported directly to Chairman Steve Stavro with some decisions even bypassing Dryden and Peddie. With Stavro out and Dryden halfway gone to the Liberal Party, Richard Peddie, with a shiny new seat on the board of directors and the support of the OTPF, had all the control and would no longer be marginalized.

So fast forward to the NHL Trade Deadline of 2003, twenty-two days after the announcement of MLSE's pending shift in power, is it any wonder that Pat Quinn acted the way he did? Could anyone really blame him? As a General Manager all too aware of what the future held, you too would make one last ditch attempt at glory. This deadline saw Quinn acquire Owen Nolan, Phil Housley, Doug Gilmour, and Glenn Wesley for really, one player of consequence, Brad Boyes, and of course the first round pick that turned out to be Mark Stuart (Ryan Kesler at 23, Mike Richards at 24 and Corey Perry at 28 were still on the table.) It is this trade that became Quinn's legacy and completely distorted the reality that throughout his time with the Leafs, he relied heavily on the young players he had.

Even so late as 2005-06, 21 year old rookie Alex Steen played the 2nd most minutes of any Leaf forward and achieved his best statistical season to date. 21 year old sophmore Matt Stajan featured all season long on the team's top penalty killing tandem, and while he was used sparingly in the playoffs during his rookie season, Quinn later admitted it was an error that he did not play Stajan more. Of course we cannot forget the beginning of Quinn's tenure as coach. During the 1998-1999 NHL season, Quinn had one of the youngest defence cores in the NHL. With Berard(21) Kaberle(20) Markov(22) Tremblay(22) and veterans Cote(32) and Yuskevich(26), Quinn took an inexperienced team to the Eastern Conference Finals while playing an up-tempo, entertaining brand of hockey.

When Quinn took over as General Manager in 1999 he actually made the team younger. He acquired draft picks, and young players as he built the core of a team that would go as far as any Leaf team since 1967. He acquired 25 year old Darcy Tucker and 25 year old Bryan McCabe in landslide deals. He moved out veterans like Sylvain Cote, Derek King, Dave Manson, and Dimitri Kristich. He brought in a 22 year old, mobile, 6-3 defenceman formerly picked 3rd overall. His name might of been Aki Berg but you can see where Quinn's head was at. Hindsight is 20-20 after all. He built young and added veterans along the way to compliment his core. And for all misinformed criticism that he bought his teams, Pat Quinn only signed 4 un-restricted free agents his entire tenure as General Manager. Gary Roberts, Shayne Corson, Dave Manson, and Alex Mogilny.

There is also the prevailing myth that Quinn sacrificed draft picks for the sake of buying veteran players. It is fact though that while teams were given a standard 9 selections per draft, (equalling 36 picks throughout Quinn's 4 draft tenure as GM) Quinn actually selected 37 players. Also, 40% of Quinn's 37 selections were made in the first 3 rounds of the draft. 17 of those players (46%) have made it to the NHL, 11 have made it with the Leafs and 8 Have played over 100 games. Not too shabby for a guy who was consistently picking in the last 8 selections of each round.

To suggest that Quinn will be an utter failure at the World Juniors is absurd. He is one of the winningest coaches of all time, he has international experience and not to mention he'll be familiar with some of the players on this years squad. Quinn just coached Canada's U-18 squad to their first Gold Medal in 5 years, only their 2nd Gold at that tournament ever. This is the perfect opportunity for him to build on the Under 18 success and win Canada its 5th straight Gold Medal.

While I may be crusading on behalf of the good ship Quinn here, the issue may not even be that Quinn doesn't get the credit he deserves because I understand, these details are easily lost on those who are not as familiar with him as those who follow the Leafs (gotta tie it back, it is after all a Leafs blog). The concerning issue to me is that the bulk of the criticism I hear comes from those claiming to be members of 'Leaf Nation.' The bigger question might be, and Bob touched on it... Why is Leaf Nation so hell bent on dumping on their own? I have my theories but I think for now I'll just steal one from former Leaf coach Paul Maurice. It seems that for whatever reason, in Toronto, anything negative you can say is automatically deemed intelligent. After being beat down by failure for so long it is easy to dismiss everything as being wrong. Really though, it should be the small victories that sustain us. Cos' for now, they're all we got. So rather than dump on Sundin because he may want to play elsewhere or suggest Canada's hope for a 5th gold are dead, actually think before you react, you consider circumstance and history and realize that all your frustration is misguided and if you look hard enough you'll find the appropriate place to direct it...but that's for another blog.