The Current Maple Leafs Coaching Staff Could Learn a Lot From an Old Legend
Photo credit: TSN
The current Maple Leafs front office and coaching staff might be wise to borrow a strategy from the late, great Pat Quinn.
There was a time when it wasn't always like this; when the Leafs' playoff woes were not what they are today. There was a time in the late 90's and early 2000's where the Toronto Maple Leafs were a good playoff team and had a special group of guys who went on a couple of deep runs.
Pat Quinn was not only the Maple Leafs' coach at the time, but also the General Manager of those teams (until John Ferguson Junior became GM in 2003). Under Quinn, the Leafs went to two Conference Finals, and he was also a Jack Adams finalist for top coach in the NHL. Former Leaf Cory Cross had this to say about his time under Quinn, and you know what? The Leafs might be wise to pay attention.
"We went to Toronto and there were zero systems. And I look back at it now and think 'You know what? He just recognized the skill and talent we had on the team and said let's just drop the puck and go.'"
Quinn looked at a roster with players like Mats Sundin, Gary Roberts, Alexander Mogilny, Steve Thomas and others and decided to just let them play. A much different approach than today, where we hear about all of the intricate systems and every team having a bunch of video coaches, exhaustively analyzing every little detail.
Craig Berube is walking in to a somewhat similar situation with this Leafs team -- it has lots of talent and skill. Maybe what can help these guys succeed is not just a different voice, but someone who can take a step back and let our star players be creative on the ice.
The Maple Leafs' lack of playoff success can be attributed to many things. If this team isn't winning staying obsessively devoted to its systems and structure, then a bit more freedom and experimentation wouldn't hurt. It might be worth letting them test the waters during the regular season just to see what might happen if they trust the skill on this team a little more instead of stifling the creativity and hammering structure into the heads of the players who actually have the talent to break a game wide open.
Hell, we saw what happened with the Edmonton Oilers this year, going all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Maybe it's time to take the collars off the big dogs and just let them run.
Source for Quinn's coaching stats: HockeyDB
Pat Quinn's coaching stats
Pat Quinn's coaching stats
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AOUT 8 | 827 ANSWERS The Current Maple Leafs Coaching Staff Could Learn a Lot From an Old Legend Was Pat Quinn the greatest Leafs coach of all-time? | ||
| Yes | 438 | 53 % |
| No | 389 | 47 % |
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