Pat Quinn, R.I.P.


Pat Quinn passed away this week and the tributes have been pouring in. Quinn was universally revered and should really be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I believe the only reason he hadn't been so honored yet was due to the fact that he was on the selection committee. Quinn is fifth overall in career NHL coaching victories with 684, and even though he never won the Stanley Cup, he has the 6th most career playoff wins with 94.

It's interesting to me how the Vancouver Canucks and their fan base have seemingly claimed Quinn as their own when in reality he coached in and won more than twice as many games with Toronto. In fact, Quinn owns the highest career winning percentage of any Maple Leaf coach ever. I understand that Quinn coached Vancouver to their magical run of 1994 and that carries a lot of weight in people's memories. In truth, he coached almost as many games with Philadelphia and was even more successful. Granted, Quinn also filled roles of player, General Manager and President with Vancouver...indeed we can all share in honoring him.

 Below are the top five coaches by Percentage in Leafs history (GP W-L-T Pct)
Quinn    574 300-196-52    .591
Irvin       427 216-152-59   .575
Imlach    770 370-275-125 .562
Day        546 259-206-81   .549
Burns     281 133-107-41   .546

As for playoff games, even though he never won a Cup he is still over .500 with Toronto.
(GP Pct)
Day     80 .613
Quinn  80 .513
Irvin    66 .508
Burns  46 .500
Imlach 92 .478







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