Moments after the 2002 Olympic gold-medal game in Salt Lake City, Kalli Quinn,
her sister, Val, and mother, Sandra, raced by startled security personnel to the
Team Canada bench area just in time for the singing of O Canada.
Cheap NFL
Jerseys China .As the joyful Canadians posed for a team picture
celebrating their countrys first gold medal in mens hockey in 50 years, head
coach Pat Quinn grabbed Kalli and brought his daughter out for the photo, a nod
to her work as the family liaison during the Games.In some of the photos, if the
angle is just right, you can see Val and Sandy on the bench. To view the photo
from that perspective is to understand Pat Quinn entirely. Family. Hockey.
Country.Kalli and the rest of the Quinn family no doubt will be reminded of that
moment in Toronto this weekend when her father is inducted into the Hockey Hall
of Fame. He joins?Eric Lindros, Rogie Vachon and?Sergei Makarov?in the class of
2016.It will be more than a little bittersweet for those whose lives were
touched by the big Irishman from Hamilton, Ontario. Quinn, chairman of the Hall
of Fames selection committee in his later years, died two years ago at the age
of 71.Kalli figures she knows how her dad would react to the honor. Me? With
those guys? No way.Ive thought about it a lot, Kalli said. To be recognized for
doing something that he loved. ... It wasnt a job to him. It was something that
he loved to do.There were, in fact, many, many things that Pat Quinn put ahead
of Pat Quinn.Guys who played for Pat Quinn all said the same thing, Wayne
Gretzky said. It was all good.There was no more pressure-packed coaching job,
perhaps in the history of the game, than coaching Canada at the 02 Olympics.
Finding roles for each member of a roster brimming with future Hall of Famers
was no small feat, yet Quinn handled the task with aplomb.Calm in the face of
turmoil? Indeed.Canada lost its first game against Sweden 5-2, and an entire
nation went into full panic mode. We were all pretty down about it, recalled
Gretzky, who was executive director of Canadas Olympic effort at the time.Not
Quinn.In the days leading up to the Olympics, a popular commercial portrayed a
bunch of Canadians going across the border into the United States with nothing
to declare but a can of Whup Ass. In Salt Lake City, Quinn took an aerosol can
and taped over the label with a hand-drawn label reading Whup Ass.And after that
first game, I was standing there, we were all obviously devastated. And he said,
Wayne, dont worry about it. I got a big old can of Whup Ass here, Gretzky
recalled, laughing at the memory.Canada would go on to defeat the United States
in the gold-medal game, setting off one of the most spontaneous national
celebrations in the countrys history.Bob Nicholson, the longtime head of Hockey
Canada, first met Quinn when Nicholson was working in minor hockey in British
Columbia and Quinn was with the Vancouver Canucks. Nicholson and Quinn became
fast friends, often spending summers together sitting at the end of a B.C. dock
drinking red wine and smoking the ever-present cigars that were as much a part
of Quinns persona as his great physical presence.Nicholson recalled how, in the
hours before the gold-medal game in 2002, Quinn suddenly dropped his trousers to
show off the lucky underwear and socks his grandchildren had decorated for him
-- and which hed been wearing throughout the tournament.?Neither Nicholson nor
Gretzky could contain their laughter at the memory of the bedazzled garments.He
was very proud of those, Gretzky added.Ken Hitchcock was part of that same
Olympic staff. Hed first met Quinn when Quinn was the general manager in
Vancouver and Hitchcock was coaching in the Western Hockey League. After being
invited to take part in Vancouvers training camp, Hitchcock got up at 3 a.m. and
drove to the rink, expecting to be sharing the ice with other coaches -- only to
find he was the only one out there with 40 players.In the stands, Quinn and
director of player personnel Brian Burke watched, bemused, as Hitchcock used up
his entire repertoire of drills in about 25 minutes because the pace was so
fast.They laughed about it for 10 years, those clowns, Hitchcock said.The two
lifelong coaches became pea-pod close, playing off each other as they shared
some of the countrys most memorable hockey moments, Quinn often referring to
Hitchcock as a mad hockey scientist.He was such a good man, Hitchcock said.
Every day you came to work, you didnt want to let the man down.The two stayed in
close contact until Quinns phone was turned off for the last time two years
ago.It was really emotional for a lot of us, Hitchcock said of Quinns death. It
was really hard.Quinn played 606 NHL regular-season games for the?Toronto Maple
Leafs, Vancouver Canucks?and Atlanta Flames, and was remembered for his
hard-nosed style that included a bone-rattling check on Bobby Orr that made him
a hated man in Boston for his entire career.But it was in coaching and managing
-- the science of team building, if you will -- where Quinn would make a lasting
and undeniable impression.Quinn coached five teams: the?Philadelphia Flyers, Los
Angeles Kings, Canucks, Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers, compiling a W-L-T-OTL
record of 684-528-154-34. Jacques Martin coached his first game in the NHL
against Quinn in 1986. Over the years their paths would cross many times, most
notably in heated playoff confrontations between Quinns Toronto Maple Leafs and
Martins Ottawa Senators. ?But the two also worked together during international
tournaments, and Martin fondly recalls end-of-day gatherings on the benches
outside the Olympic village in Salt Lake City, where Quinn would contentedly
draw on a cigar and talk hockey with the rest of the coaches.When I think of
Pat, I just remember him as a person with a presence in the room, in a dressing
room addressing players, Martin said. A real classy individual. And a highly
competitive individual. Thats what drove him. He was really driven to win.Kalli
Quinn recalled the door to the Quinn home always being open to players, coaches,
whoever wanted to drop by. Such was the sense of family that extended beyond the
Quinn name.Among those visitors during Quinns successful coaching tenure in
Philadelphia was rugged?Philadelphia Flyers?forward Paul Holmgren.He loved to
teach so much that we literally had to go to him and say, Pat, you need to stop
these teaching moments, Holmgren said.Two minutes, three minutes, now theyre 10
minutes, Holmgren explained, chuckling. You get a good sweat on, especially in
those old practice rinks in those days. Now all of sudden youve got to stand
there for 10 minutes and listen to Pat orate.?When Holmgren moved into coaching,
he would often turn to Quinn for advice. He was a huge help to me, Holmgren
said. Im fortunate and I believe a better person because I did.If there is a
measure of the depth of Quinns capacity to share his knowledge, it was in his
successes with teams of top Canadian teens. He guided an under-18 national team
and then the under-20 squad to championships late in his career.Nicholson
admitted no one was quite sure how Quinn would manage with the kids after
spending so long with established NHLers. To be honest, he scared the [crap] out
of them first, said Nicholson. And then he got them to buy into his systems. He
was a teacher of skill but he was also a teacher of people.Trevor Linden first
met Quinn at the family home in British Columbia shortly before Vancouver made
Linden the second-overall pick in 1988. He recalled being awed as his hand
disappeared into Quinns meaty palms during that first handshake.Quinn, the teams
GM, took on the coaching duties in Vancouver during the latter stages of the
1990-91 season. The Canucks advanced to the second round the following spring as
Quinn earned his second Jack Adams Award as coach of the year. Then, two years
later, in 1994, Quinn and the Canucks lost to the New York Rangers in a classic
seven-game Stanley Cup finals.He made sense of things, said Linden, who is now
president of hockey operations for the Canucks. Thats what he was great at. He
taught me how to play the proper way.Linden is roughly the same age Quinn was
when the two first met, and there is something cyclical about Lindens role in
trying to revive the fortunes and identity of the Canucks franchise. Theres a
reason people like Pat so much in Vancouver, Linden said. Hes left an indelible
mark on this franchise.One might say that Quinn left an indelible mark on the
entire game.
Cheap Hockey Jerseys . -- Aldon Smith
believes he is on the path to being sober for good.
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Shipping . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor
Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The
league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta.
http://www.cheapjerseyshockey.com/ . 8 Iowa
State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The
Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in
the row in the Big 12. CHICAGO -- Given the way his Chicago Blackhawks have
stumbled out of the gate in losing two of three games to start the season, coach
Joel Quenneville is far from satisfied.The Blackhawks have seen a lack of
productivity from their top-line performers. Chicago has yet to receive a goal
from stars Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Artemi Panarin heading into Tuesday
nights game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the United Center.There are guys
we need more (from), Quenneville told reporters after the Blackhawks practiced
on Monday. Across the board, we need more. We cant be happy with how weve played
in three games. The last game (Saturday against Nashville), we gave up a higher
number of chances we usually dont see -- more probably in the first two games
together.We have to tighten up in all aspects of our game, cant be satisfied, we
need more.The Blackhawks (1-2) have gotten four goals from Richard Panik, who
skated with Toews and rookie Tyler Motte on Chicagos top line during Mondays
practice. Panik had a hat trick in Saturdays 5-3 win over the Predators as the
Blackhawks picked up their first victory.Chicago will again be without forward
Ryan Hartman, who suffered a lower body injury on Friday night. Quenneville
listed Hartman as day-to-day on Saturday, but said Monday that the rookie -- who
scored in Chicagos season-opener last week -- very likely would not play against
the Flyers.The lack of star production, along with the struggles the Blackhawks
have experienced thus far on the penalty kill, has left Quenneville wanting more
from his team, which faces a Philadelphia team that hasnt had issues scoring
goals this seaason.
Cheap NFL Jerseys USA. Chicagos penalty
killing unit has surrendered seven goals in 13 opportunities, which is a major
concern for a team trying to find some rhythm.It hasnt been good enough,
Blackhawks center Marcus Kruger told reporters after Mondays practice. Its not
even close to being good. Weve got to battle through it. Its going to be a
process to getting it better.The Flyers (1-0-1) have tallied seven goals in two
games.You come out with three points out four in the first two games, its not
too shabby, Philadelphia right wing Wayne Simmonds told reporters after Saturday
nights 4-3 overtime loss to the Arizona Coyotes.According to Philly.com, Michal
Neuvirth will likely get the start in goal for the Flyers over Steve Mason.
Neuvirth made 23 saves in Philadelphias 4-2 win over the Kings on Friday.Flyers
coach Dave Hakstol likes what he has seen from his team over its first two
games, especially considering the offense -- paced by center Sean Couturier, who
has two goals in two games while rookie Travis Konecny and Brandon Manning each
have three assists in the two games -- has it has put up so far.He hopes that
can continue against the Blackhawks, who have surrendered 11 goals in three
games, including the seven while skating a man down.Were doing a lot of good
things, Hakstol told reporters Saturday night. Our effort (Saturday) was
outstanding. For back-to-back nights, its the effort that you want. But theres a
lot of things that mentally we can do a little bit better and be a little
sharper.
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