Former Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Pat Quinn walks to the ice at the beginning of their Alumni Showdown hockey game against the Detroit Red Wings at Comerica Park in Detroit, MI on Tuesday December 31, 2013. (CRAIG GLOVER/Postmedia Network)
The demotion of Pat Quinn as general manager, which led to his eventual firing as coach of the Maple Leafs, has to rank as one of the ridiculous decisions in Toronto hockey history.
It’s more clear now than it was then but you can call Quinn’s firing a $50 million mistake by Richard Peddie, then CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Maybe more than $50 million.
Peddie, a man Quinn used to mock behind closed doors, gave him an option in his last season as general manager. He didn’t want Quinn to be both GM and coach. He wanted him to have one job and he would allow him to pick which one.
Quinn, who is being inducted in Hockey Hall of Fame posthumously Monday night, agreed to coach, a decision he came to regret.
Rogie Vachon, Kallie Quinn representing the late Pat Quinn, Eric Lindros and Sergei Makarov drop the ceremonial puck pregame. #TMLtalkpic.twitter.com/jZBSSbRtxo
In Quinn’s seven years with the Leafs, the team averaged 97 points a season, but more important than that they played in 80 playoff games: 41 of those playoff dates were at home. That’s where NHL teams cash in.
This is the 11th Leafs season after Quinn and after Peddie’s stupendous gaffe of hiring general manager John Ferguson. The Leafs have never been close to 97 points since. They have played in seven playoff games in the decade post-Quinn, three of them at home.
Forty one for Quinn. Three for everyone else. Quinn coached in more playoff games in his first Leafs season, 17, then Toronto teams have played in the 11 years after Quinn was hired and the three that preceded him.
THIS AND THAT
Never mind his fielding. Never mind his arm. Never mind his diminishing speed. The decline in Jose Bautista has been rather evident at the plate the past four seasons. With a great eye for the strike zone, he has gone from striking out 15.2% of his at-bats in 2013, to 18.8% to 19.5% to 24.3% this past season: In the post-season against Baltimore, Texas and Cleveland, Bautista struck out 38.8% of his at-bats and that is startling ... Next up for the Blue Jays: Taking a run at Josh Reddick, the free-agent right-fielder they have had their eyes on for years ... The signing of Cuban Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is a progressive move by the Jays. Gurriel grades out to be a utility man who can play all three outfield positions, shortstop, second base and third base. It may take him a year in Triple-A to find his way but he could be invaluable in the future with his versatility ... The value of R.A. Dickey: He pitched 823 innings for the Jays. Had the Jays sent Justin Nicolino to the Mets instead of Noah Syndergaard, this would have been looked upon as a decent strike by Alex Anthopoulos. Dickey was far too average and far too distant to be a great Jay but he will look worse over time because he was dealt for the great Syndergaard ... All this talk about Edwin Encarnacion going to Boston, I guess, was just talk. It’s looking like Encarnacion will wind up either in Houston with the Astros, or Texas with the Rangers. That’s the bet here ... If the Blue Jays think that a platoon of Justin Smoak and Steve Pearce at first base to replace Encarnacion will appease the ticket-buying public, boy are they are sadly mistaken ... If I’m Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro, I’m investigating the cost of acquiring Andrew McCutchen from Pittsburgh. His numbers came down after four years of being an MVP candidate and winner in the National League. Pirates general manager Neil Huntington is close to Shapiro. They will certainly talk here.
HEAR AND THERE
Some of the talk in the Leafs dressing room centred around Eric Lindros’ size. Players couldn’t believe how thick Lindros was. And I got to thinking: Watching Lindros on the ice physically was like watching Jim Brown dominate the NFL as a running back who was almost the same size as defensive ends. And it reminded me of old clips of Wilt Chamberlain, how tall and wide he was when compared to those he played against ... Did Lindros wait seven years to get in the Hall of Fame because he missed so many games — for every two he played, he missed one — or because he was a polarizing figure, who was sharply disliked and was the ultimate stubborn individual in a team game ... Why did Sergei Makarov wait 16 years to get in the Hall? Was he just forgotten? How else do explain his absence when the likes of Phil Housley, Dino Ciccarelli, Dick Duff, Larry Murphy, Bernie Federko, and Clark Gillies were inducted when he was eligible — and I would suggest not one of them was ever among the best in the world: Makarov was ... Rogie Vachon is the 18th member of Team Canada ’76 to be inducted in the Hall of Fame. If you add the coach, Scotty Bowman, that’s 19 members. And when Don Cherry eventually gets inducted, he’ll be No. 20. The blue-line for Canada in 1976, including Bobby Orr, Denis Potvin, Larry Robinson, Serge Savard and Guy Lapointe, is the best defence on any team, any time ... The induction of Vachon has to be encouraging for borderline choice Curtis Joseph.
SCENE AND HEARD
We all have heroes: One of mine is Bob Verdi, longtime columnist with the Chicago Tribune. I fell in love with his work early in my career. It never left me. Verdi will be honoured Monday with the Elmer Ferguson Award at the Hockey Hall of Fame. Also being honoured, my old friend Sam Rosen with the Foster Hewitt Award. Rosen could read you the phone book and make you want to listen ... I don’t care much for television commercials and rarely watch them but admit I stop and watch every time the Scotiabank commercial comes on with the kid doing play-by-play on the Bobby Orr overtime dive ... Scott Milanovich said his goodbyes to Argo staff the other day, unsure if he’ll be back as coach next season. Jim Barker’s job is in question also, especially now that fired Montreal GM Jim Popp is available ... Weird: Martin Brodeur, who started six games in goal for the St. Louis Blues, will be one of the Blues goalies in their outdoor alumni game. Also playing Wayne Gretzky, who hinted he had played his last game in Winnipeg a few weeks ago ... All eyes will be on Jack Eichel when he eventually returns to the Buffalo Sabres lineup. Eichel didn’t have a strong World Cup and his attitude was doubted. Soon, it’ll be proving time again.
AND ANOTHER THING
The sooner Auston Matthews learns to take advantage of his size and strength and be just a little more physical, the better and more dominantly he will play ... Nazem Kadri’s Corsi is down, his goal scoring is up and he’s playing the most meaningful hockey of his career ... Dale Hawerchuk is certainly not surprised that Mark Scheifele is leading the NHL in scoring. Hawerchuk was singing Scheifele’s praises as a junior before anyone was ever talking about the youngster ... So what are your favourite memories of the Josh Thole era? ... Wendel Clark has a book out. Red Kelly has a book out. There are books by Darryl Sittler and Tie Domi on the shelves. And the only Leaf book I want to read is the unwritten one by Jim McKenny ... Was it just me or was the clock operator at the epic Western-Laurier football game Saturday a little slow on the switch? ... I have no problem with the Hockey Hall taking its time inducting women. There are so few to choose from. The women who needs to be in the Hall is builder Fran Rider. There is no game without her ... Happy birthday to Gil Perreault (66), Cedric Minter (58), Pat Hentgen (48), Steve Christie (49), Michael Bennett (31), Vinny Testaverde (53), Mel Stottlemyre (75) and Adam Larsson (24) ... And hey, whatever became of Brett Lindros?
WON’T BE EASY TO PART WITH JAYS DUO
Is it too early to say goodbye to Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista?
Or does the garage sale signing of Kendrys Morales, a little more than half the player for about half the Encarnacion price, indicate that the Blue Jays are paying lip-service and little more than that to bringing these stalwarts back?
You can lump Encarnacion and Bautista together because of their run of brilliant seasons they had with the Blue Jays and because they were scrap-heap pickups, who against all odds grew into big time stars.
Encarnacion was the quiet man whose numbers were anything but quiet. They screamed off a page. He was rarely public, always professional, very emotional, and one of those players John Gibbons loved to manage. The low-maintenance star is a sports rarity: Encarnacion was pure power, full of moments, and brought great value to Toronto baseball.
He deserved to be paid to finish his career in Toronto.
It is more complicated with Bautista. It always is. At his height, if he wasn’t the best player in baseball, he was certainly close. He arrived in Toronto and announced his stardom on the field. He was electric, egotistical, singular, outspoken, sullen, difficult, depending on the time, the day, the circumstance. It was impossible not to watch him, whether it was the big home run, the bat flip, the calling for a trade, the great throw from right field. And now, unless he accepts the Jays qualifying offer of $17.2 million, he becomes a second- or third-choice free agent somewhere else.
Time here may be up for Bautista but that doesn’t lessen his accomplishments or make the separation any easier.
MUSIC TO OUR EARS
I haven’t stopped listening to Leonard Cohen since the unfortunate news of his passing came out.
I’ve listened to his songs over and over, his versions, other versions. It is consuming and fascinating and personal and more than brilliant .
And if the circumstances of the past week across the border didn’t have you feeling Canadian, and even proud Canadian, maybe you should check your passport or your pulse. The passing of a legend almost makes you take stock as well. Cohen was a Canadian treasure, another gift of ours to the world.
We are a small country, population wise, but as I get older and more appreciative of this land, you look around and see all we have given the world in writing and song and music and comedy and film and sport and so much more. In many of the reports written on Cohen’s passing, his writing was mentioned along with Bob Dylan and another Canadian, Joni Mitchell, as the most profound of a generation.
This from a country that has given the world Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot and The Band and the Tragically Hip and Barenaked Ladies and Oscar Peterson and Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman and Steven Page and Shania Twain and Diana Krall and Michael Buble and Anne Murray and Celine Dion and Drake and The Weeknd and yes, even, cough, Justin Bieber.
Leonard Cohen brought out all these emotions. So close. So personal. And as long as there is music, he will forever be alive and we can celebrate that he was ours.
DEROZAN GILMOUR LIKE
Doug Gilmour has never met DeMar DeRozan but he can sure relate to the incredible start DeRozan has had to this NBA season.
Gilmour was a point-a-game player for most of his NHL career. But in his first full season in Toronto, he scored at 1.53 points per game and then 1.66 per game in the playoffs. It was a spectacular time for him and the Maple Leafs. Gilmour was in his 10th NHL season when he lit it up in 1992-93. He was 29 years old at that time.
DeRozan is 27 years old now, and in his eighth season with the Raptors. He has scored more than 30 points in seven of the Raps first eight games: He needed 20 games to hit the 30-point mark a year ago.
“I don’t know to explain it all,” said Gilmour. “How does it happen? It just happens. You teammates are your back bone. They get you the ball or in my case, the puck. When it’s happening, you don’t take it for granted because everything is going so well for you. You just live through it. It’s like everything goes your way. Every bounce. Every shot. And you have so much confidence and you feel that.
“Obviously (in DeRozan’s case) he was committed to coming back to the Raptors and all that goes with that and being the highest paid guy. And being the guy. It’s a situation like me leaving Calgary. The team is depending on you. Your peers. Your fans. You don’t really think about it. You just go out and do it. And you keep on doing it for as long as you can.”
The demotion of Pat Quinn as general manager, which led to his eventual firing as coach of the Maple Leafs, has to rank as one of the ridiculous decisions in Toronto hockey history.
It’s more clear now than it was then but you can call Quinn’s firing a $50 million mistake by Richard Peddie, then CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Maybe more than $50 million.
Peddie, a man Quinn used to mock behind closed doors, gave him an option in his last season as general manager. He didn’t want Quinn to be both GM and coach. He wanted him to have one job and he would allow him to pick which one.
Quinn, who is being inducted in Hockey Hall of Fame posthumously Monday night, agreed to coach, a decision he came to regret.
In Quinn’s seven years with the Leafs, the team averaged 97 points a season, but more important than that they played in 80 playoff games: 41 of those playoff dates were at home. That’s where NHL teams cash in.
