Pat Quinn was part of the NHL for nearly his entire life. He made his playing debut during the 1968-69 season with the Toronto Maple Leafs and went on to play nine total seasons, splitting his time with the Leafs, Vancouver Canucks and Atlanta Flames.
The Hamilton, Ontario native retired following the 1976-77 season due to an ankle injury, but found himself on the Philadelphia Flyers bench as an assistant coach the following season. He then became the Flyers’ head coach for the 1978-79 season, and also spent time behind the Los Angeles Kings, Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers’ bench before calling it quits after the 2009-10 campaign.
Sadly, Quinn passed away on November 23, 2014 at the age of 71 and the hockey community was left at a loss for words. However, the Canucks did something special for the two-time Jack Adams Award winner this past weekend, as they unveiled a statue outside their arena to honour the late coach.
In an interview with NHL.com correspondent Kevin Woodley, Quinn’s daughter Kalli had this to say.
"The first thing I did was look at the smile and I just, he had an incredible smile so it's everything I wanted it to be," Kalli Quinn said, her voice cracking with emotion. "It's overwhelming. It is a bit strange because I just want to reach out and touch him."
Known as "Pat's Bench", the life-sized bronze statue depicts Quinn coaching the Canucks during the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs and it includes him holding a roster card engraved with each player’s name on it.
This is a very cool way to honour one of the greatest coaches in NHL history.
(H/T Instagram/canucks)
