As head coach of the Flyers he lead them too two successful seasons in first and second place in the Campbell Conference. The Flyers recorded an NHL record 35 game winning streak under Quinn, who went on to sign a five-year contract with the team in 1981. But to the amazement of most Flyers fans, he was fired in just the second year of the deal. Quinn responded by enrolling in law school, continuing to draw his Flyers paycheck and keeping abreast of NHL activity by watching games on TV.
Quinns style of coaching emphasising offense, speed, puck-movement, and puck possession.
After being let go from the Flyers, Quinn wasn't finished with controversy in the coaching department. In 1987, back in the coaching game with the Los Angeles Kings, Quinn was suspended from the NHL for several months because he had accepted a $100,000 signing bonus to become president and general manager of the Vancouver Canucks while still under contract with L.A. The Canucks were also fined by league president John Ziegler for paying Quinn the bonus, as were the Kings for not reporting the deal promptly.
Nevertheless, Quinn coached 11 seasons in Vancouver, leading the team to a narrow loss to the New York Rangers in a seven-game Stanley Cup finals in 1994 before coming back to the Maple Leafs for the 1998-99 season. He quickly made his presence felt, telling fans and reporters he had definite plans for his new team, one that had been a little flat in the goal-scoring department in past years.
Vancouver was playing that "free-flowing" hockey out West and everyone marvelled at how it contrasted with the trap-happy hockey being played in the East? As Marc Crawford once said, "That's just Pat Quinn hockey".
Quinn certainly became a big hit in his early days with the team he once played with, leading them to their first playoff appearance since 1996 and their third trip to the conference finals in the 1990s. Quinn also led the team to a club-record 45 wins. He finished the season as runner-up for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's coach of the year and during the off-season was named general manager of the Leafs as well. A short time later, he was named coach of Canada's Olympic entry for Salt Lake City in 2002. He was named coach of Team Canada for the 2006 Turin Olympics
Here is pats record with Toronto. It is worth noting that Quinn hasn't coached a non-playoff entry since 1987 when he was behind the Los Angeles Kings' bench.
1998-99 Toronto 82 45 30 7 .591 17 9 8 .529
1999-00 Toronto 82 45 30 7(3) .591 12 6 6 .500
2000-01 Toronto 82 37 29 11 5 90 .518 Lost Conference Semi-Final 11 7-4
2001-02 Toronto 82 43 25 10 4 100 .585 Lost Conference Final 20- 10-10
2002-03 Toronto 82 44 28 7 3 98 .579 Lost first rnd 7- 3-4
2003-04 Toronto 82 45 24 10 3 103 .610 Lost 2nd rnd 13 -6 -7
2004-05 NHL Owners locked out the union -no season
2005-06 Toronto 77 37 32 8 82 Missed the Playoffs ?season not over yet
Toronto 569 296 198 60 18
NHL TOTALS Games 1311 Wins -653 Losses-483 Ties 154 OT21
Playoff Totals Games 183 Wins 94 Losses 79
RIP
