Old Man Quinn

It’s not often I like to talk about our neighbours to the north, but I think Oilers coach Pat Quinn’s comments after last night’s Flames win warrants some discussion. Following an incident where Jarome Iginla and Sheldon Souray slid into the boards, resulting in Souray leaving the game with a mild concussion, Quinn was quick to climb onto his soapbox and let fly on the Flames captain. Talking about the incident, Quinn said, “I don’t understand the players of today…if that had happened in my era, the player would have been hit over the head with a stick right afterwards.” It is hard to believe that a modern NHL coach would suggest a player should be hit in the head with a stick, but this is exactly what coach Quinn did in his post game press conference last night. Quinn continued with his vigilante utopia, saying “that’s the way you dealt with things in the era I come from, you deal dirt with dirt.”

Besides the fact that replays show it was not a dirt play on Iginla’s part, nor was there any intent to injure, nor does Iginla have a reputation for dirty plays, Quinn’s “eye for an eye” suggestions offers a stark reminder of his advancing age. The veteran bench boss will be 67 in January, and has been coaching in the NHL since before most of the players on his roster were born. His comments demonstrate a generational gap that both the coaching staff and the players will need to overcome if they are to have any success this season. It is difficult for a man born during World War II to relate to kids who were born with Super Mario Bros. II. Quinn’s comments in the press conference last night might have been a way of deflecting attention away from his team’s second last minute loss in less than a week, but more simply, it made him sound old. When Quinn starts off comments with “back in my day,” he’ll remind his players more of their grandfathers, and less of their coach.

Quinn represents one of the last coaches of the previous era, and seems to believe that players in his era were better and tougher. Much like Mike Keenan last year, it might be time for Coach Quinn to move on into retirement, as his comments last night demonstrate his old-fashioned way of doing things. Fortunately for Oiler fans, management has already put a line of succession in place, with Tom Renney ready to take over when Quinn’s tenure ends. Whether or not Quinn finishes his three year contract remains to be seen, but if he does, he will be 70 years old at the end of that third season, trying to guide and mentor kids in their early 20’s. Perhaps he won’t finish the contract though, as he tires of players doing things like wearing helmets, because in his day you didn’t wear helmets. After all, as Coach Quinn said, he simply doesn’t “…understand the players of today.”

-TheRev