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Quinn Gets A Less-Bizarre Phone Call Then He Did Eleven Years Ago |
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A few weeks back I sat down with former Atlanta Flame Tim Ecclestone for a story I was preparing for my Atlanta Journal-Constitution blog. The main jist of the piece had to do with the lack of connection between the current NHL franchise in Atlanta and the players of the one that played here in the 1970s. However, part of it had to do with the early stages of the then-upstart Thrashers and the search for a general manager for that new team.
Ecclestone firmly believes that there were a couple of men who were right for the job. First off, there was Cliff Fletcher, who held that post with the Flames both here in Atlanta and when they moved on to Calgary…and who was very interested in the job. Coincidently, just the other day we learned that his son Chuck has followed in his Hall of Fame father’s footsteps, being named the new general manager of the Minnesota Wild.
Also, there was Brian Burke…who was also interviewed here but, as Tim remembers it, the Thrashers brain trust at the time drug their feet and lost him to Vancouver. He's now in the process of getting the Toronto Maple Leafs back on track as their GM.
I asked about Pat Quinn…who spent five seasons with the Atlanta Flames and served as their captain before retiring in 1977. About that, Tim kinda chuckled and said, “That’s a funny story”.
Oh? Do tell…
“Pat Quinn was available…Pat was a part of the Flames”, Ecclestone recalled. “He calls me up and says, ‘what’s going on down there? I just got a call from this guy Harvey Schiller asking me for the phone number of some other guy to interview for the job…and keep in mind, Pat’s out of work at the time…and they call him up looking for the number of someone else to ask for an interview. He told me, ‘That was the most bazaar call I ever had’”.
Quinn, as well as Fletcher, brought with them instant name recognition among this city’s hockey fans and both would have brought with them years of experience as GM of an NHL franchise. And either of them, as well as Burke, would have been a great choice at the time.
However, as we all know, an assistant general manager with the Detroit Red Wings by the name of Don Waddell was tapped for the job in Atlanta in June of 1998 and here he still remains…11 years, 9 seasons, 1 playoff appearance and 0 playoff wins later.
But, as for Pat Quinn…like Ecclestone stated, back then he had just been fired in Vancouver after a new ownership group led by John McCaw, Jr. had recently taken over the Canucks. This despite the fact that during his six seasons in Vancouver... splitting his time as team president, GM and coach... the Canucks qualified for the playoffs each year, including that great run in 1994 that took them to within one game of winning the Stanley Cup.
He then became the bench boss in Toronto in 1998 and in his seven seasons there the Maple Leafs went 300-196-52-26 with Quinn behind the bench, qualified for post-season six times and not once finished with less than 90 points. Of course, the one time he did miss the playoffs in 2006, he was fired.
And for the last three years… just like in ’98…Quinn was looking for a job.
That is until this week when Quinn got the kind of call from Edmonton that he would have liked to have had back in ’98…a far less “bizarre” one at least, I’m sure. This time it was the Edmonton Oilers on the phone and they were looking for a new head coach…and they weren’t calling to ask Pat for someone else’s number, (Unless, of course, they were needing Tom Renney’s number too as he’ll join Quinn there as associate coach).
“If I think of leadership, I think of Pat,” said Oilers general manager Steve Tambellini during the news conference. “If I think of the way you want to be treated as a player, I think of someone like Pat Quinn. If I think of someone who sets and example morally for an organization of how to go forward, I think of a man like Pat Quinn.”
Indeed.
Personally, I cannot think of too many men better suited for the job…and Oilers fans have to be thrilled knowing they have this man… a man who’ll be able to step in and from day-one get that franchise not just back in the playoffs but competing once there…a man who has a proven track record of not only coaching a team to winning seasons, but being the president and general manager of successful teams as well.
A man the Thrashers organ-I-zation actually had on the phone eleven years ago, when he was looking for work and they were looking for a GM…and he simply was asked for someone else’s number.
Quinn called it "bizarre".
Ecclestone called it "funny".
Me?...Oh, I could come up with a few other words to describe it.
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