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Scott BurnsidePierre LeBrun 9y

Debate: What will be Pat Quinn's legacy?

Hockey icon Pat Quinn died Sunday at age 71. Scott Burnside and Pierre LeBrun weighed in on Quinn's passion and legacy around the game.

BURNSIDE: Well, Pierre, I know that folks in the hockey world had been bracing for Pat Quinn's passing for some time now, but it still remains a shock to hear that the big Irishman is indeed gone, passing away in Vancouver on the weekend. Both you and I had many opportunities to spend time around Quinn over the years during his tenure as head coach in Toronto, and then as he took on international gigs, including the 2002 Olympic team, Canada's World Cup of Hockey squad and later the Canadian entry in the World Junior Championship. I still remember the day at the Leafs' practice facility in Etobicoke, someone (I think it might have been our friend Ken Campbell of The Hockey News) asking about something that provoked Quinn, who insisted we were all sheep and continued to make baa-ing noises that would then be replayed about a thousand times on Toronto radio. But in spite of his sometimes-prickly relationship with the local media, Quinn remains among my favorite hockey figures when it came time to talk the game, to discuss big-picture ideas or to put various issues in context.

LEBRUN: I actually don't agree that Quinn had a prickly relationship with the media, at least not here in Toronto when you and I got to know him, Scotty. Sure, he could challenge you and argue with you, but I always felt Quinn was respectful of what we did for a living and, for the most part, a lot of fun to be around during those years. Quinn handled the pressure in this market really well and always gave us lots to write about. He handled being a coach in Toronto perhaps as well as anybody in a long time. In fact, there are certainly parallels to be drawn between Quinn and Pat Burns, inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last week. Both were larger-than-life personalities who could balance gruff demeanors with a gentle touch behind the scenes. What really struck me while interviewing former star players for both the Burns HHOF piece and the story on Pat I wrote today is just how strong the bond is between coach and player. It was beyond the normal relationship. Bryan McCabe made a point of saying that Quinn was so much more than a coach but a friend as well.

BURNSIDE: OK, you say potato, I say potatoe, but I don't think there's any doubt that Quinn is one of those rare people who towered above the game while at the same time kept the game sacrosanct. Loved that he was rarely without a cigar in his mouth, inside or outside, or that there was always the familiar cigar aroma around him. I'm not sure that people understand just how good a coach he was. You know by living in Toronto that the team has never approached the success in recent years that the Leafs enjoyed with Pat Quinn coaching. Trips to the 1999 and 2002 Eastern Conference finals must seem like a million years ago to fans now. And you were in Salt Lake City for what was another seminal moment, not just for the big Hamilton native but for an entire country. Even though he knew it might have put a stick in the spokes of his relationship with Toronto netminder Curtis Joseph, he pulled him early in the Salt Lake City tournament and replaced him with Martin Brodeur. Tough? You bet. But it was never about Pat Quinn.

LEBRUN: That 2002 Olympic gold medal meant a lot to Quinn, especially since he never won a Stanley Cup. I was there in Salt Lake and can still to this day remember the incredible pressure that the team was facing to end that 50-year-old gold-medal drought for Canada, especially coming off that disappointment of Nagano four years earlier. That's why having Wayne Gretzky manage the team and Quinn coach the team was a perfect one-two punch, so they could combine to shield the players from the pressure and outside world as much as possible. We all remember Gretzky's famous speech/rant during the preliminary round in Salt Lake, which purposely took the focus off his players, who had started the tournament in tepid fashion. It worked wonders. But as Gretzky told me a few days ago, the way Quinn shielded the players as well was instrumental in that tournament. Ken Hitchcock was an assistant coach on Quinn's staff in Salt Lake, and he talked about that as well, how Quinn protected the players, how his people skills were so important in that tournament. Hitchcock also reflected on remembering when Team Canada celebrated on the ice at the buzzer after the gold-medal win over Team USA, that Quinn stood at the bench area with his family around him. What an emotional moment for Pat Quinn, no doubt. And a great image for us all to remember the coach whose heart was as big as his passion for the game.

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