Pat Quinn John Brian Patrick " Pat " Quinn ( born January 29 , 1943 ) , is a former head coach in the National Hockey League , most recently with the Toronto Maple Leafs between 1998 and 2006 . He is also a retired NHL defenceman . He has won the junior league ' s Memorial Cup as both a player and an owner . He is sometimes known by the nickname " The Big Irishman " . Playing career . Quinn was a member of the 1963 Memorial Cup champion Edmonton Oil Kings , where he was a teammate of fellow future NHL player , coach , and manager Glen Sather . After several years in the minor leagues in the EHL , CHL and WHL , he was called up by the Maple Leafs in 1968 . During this tenure , he is probably best remembered for a thundering open - ice bodycheck of Bobby Orr in the 1969 Stanley Cup playoffs against the Boston Bruins which left him unconscious and provoked a bench - clearing brawl . In 1970 , the Vancouver Canucks claimed Quinn in the 1970 NHL Expansion Draft . After two years in Vancouver , he again was left unprotected in the 1972 NHL Expansion Draft , and spent the next five years with the Atlanta Flames ( their first in the NHL ) and served as their captain before retiring in 1977 . Management . Quinn became an assistant coach for the Philadelphia Flyers in 1977 under Fred Shero , and was named Head Coach of the AHL Maine Mariners ( the Flyers farm club ) the following season . Quinn returned to the Flyers late that season , however , as Head coach of the NHL club ( with McCammon going back to Maine ) , and during the 1979 – 80 NHL season ( his first full season with the Flyers ) Quinn led the team to a record breaking 35 - game unbeaten streak that culminated in a trip to the Stanley Cup finals , where they were upset by the New York Islanders in six games . Quinn won the Jack Adams Award for his effort . Quinn stayed with the Flyers two more years , but was replaced late in the season during his fourth year . Quinn briefly left hockey ( but remained in the Philadelphia area ) at this time to attend law school at Widener University and finished his degree at the University of San Diego while he was also coaching the Los Angeles Kings . For the 1984 – 85 season , he was hired by the Los Angeles Kings . In his first season , he returned them to the playoffs after a two year absence with a 23 - point improvement in the standings . In December 1986 , Quinn signed a contract to become the President and General Manager of the Vancouver Canucks for the 1987 – 88 NHL season while still under contract with the Kings . Quinn , a lawyer , maintained that the Kings had missed a deadline on an option on his contract , which had a clause allowing him to negotiate with other teams . NHL President John Ziegler banned Quinn from coaching the Kings for the rest of the 1986 - 87 season and coaching the Canucks until 1990 . The Kings tried unsuccessfully to sue the Canucks for tampering . For the 1987 – 88 season , he moved to the Canucks as President and General Manager . In 1991 , with the coaching ban lifted , he took over the head coach position with the Canucks , and in the following season , won his second Jack Adams Award as a dramatically improved Canucks succeeded in winning the Smythe division , and they captured the division title again in 1992 – 93 . In 1994 , despite a lackluster regular season , Quinn led the Canucks on its " Cinderella " run to the Stanley Cup finals , out coaching the Maple Leafs ' Pat Burns in the conference finals . In the finals , they pushed the first - place New York Rangers to a thrilling seven game series , but weren ' t able to complete the run . After this success Quinn gave up his coaching duties to focus on his duties as President and General Manager . In the mid 1990s , the Canucks ownership gradually shifted from the Griffiths family to a new group led by John McCaw , Jr . . In November 1997 , Quinn was shockingly fired by the new ownership , with whom Quinn did not see eye - to - eye . In that year he moved to Toronto to become head coach of the perennially downtrodden Toronto Maple Leafs . In his first season as coach the Maple Leafs improved dramatically , transitioning from a plodding checking team to a speedy scoring team . As a result of Quinn ' s coaching the Leafs reached the conference finals but lost to the Buffalo Sabres . After the season Quinn was given the additional duties of General Manager as a reward for his outstanding season . Pat Quinn was also a finalist for the Jack Adams Award but failed to win . On April 20 , 2006 , Quinn was fired along with the Maple Leafs assistant coach and former teammate Rick Ley . Neither were offered another position within the organization . Quinn was dismissed because the Leafs had failed to reach the playoffs , though many criticized Ferguson ' s signings , all of which had little impact in the Leafs ' late season run to secure a postseason berth . . At the time of his departure , Quinn was the winningist active coach in the NHL , and is 4th of all time with 616 wins . Quinn ' s NHL coaching record includes 11 first round playoff wins in 16 seasons . An astounding winning percentage of 69 % , surpassed only by coaching legend Scotty Bowman , 71 % , and ahead of New York Islanders legend Al Arbour , 66 % . Quinn is known for promoting a rugged puck possession oriented style of offensive hockey . Under Quinn , the Maple Leafs had consistently been contenders , making the playoffs every season until his last , but never advanced past the conference finals . Quinn is a part - owner of the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League who won the Memorial Cup in 2007 . International . At the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City , Utah , Quinn coached Team Canada to their first Olympic gold medal since 1952 , with a 5 – 2 victory over Team USA in the gold medal game . He subsequently received a standing ovation from the fans in Montreal for his efforts in his first NHL game back from the Olympics . Two years later , in 2004 , Quinn coached Team Canada to victory in the 2004 World Cup with a perfect 6 - 0 record , capped off by a 3 – 2 victory over Finland in the final . Looking to defend their 2002 Olympic gold medal , Hockey Canada chose Quinn once again to coach Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin . Despite high expectations , Canada went 3 - 2 through the preliminary round , losing to Switzerland and Finland , both by 2 - 0 shutouts , then lost to Russia , again by a 2 - 0 score , in the quarter - finals . Without an NHL coaching job , having been let go by the Maple Leafs at the end of the 2005 – 06 season , Quinn was chosen to coach Team Canada at the 2006 Spengler Cup . They made it to the final game against HC Davos , but lost 3 – 2 . Two years later , Quinn turned to junior hockey , serving as head coach for Team Canada in the 2008 IIHF World U18 Championships . He led Canada to the finals against Russia , taking the title by an 8 – 0 score . Quinn was chosen to coach the Canadian under - 20 team for the 2009 World Junior Championships as the host country in Ottawa . He led Canada to an undefeated record in tournament play and a fifth consecutive gold medal , defeating Sweden 5 – 1 in the final .