Toronto Maple Leafs: Top 5 General Managers in Franchise History
4. Pat Quinn
Sometimes it is easy to forget that along with his title as head coach, Quinn assumed the role of General Manager. At the time, he and President Ken Dryden did not always see eye-to-eye, as Dryden wanted to hire Bob Gainey as the GM of the Leafs.
Quinn’s success with the Leafs in the 1998-99 season as coach, made it any easy decision to name him the GM. In that time, Toronto made the playoffs every season, but he still had his role of GM taken away and given to John Ferguson Jr.
Quinn’s rosters featured players like Darcy Tucker, Steve Thomas, Gary Roberts, Joe Nieuwendyk, Alexander Mogilny, Bryan McCabe, Ed Belfour, Tomas Kaberle and Owen Nolan. His teams had a style of play that focused on speed and skill, like he did with the Vancouver Canucks.
While Quinn was always remembered as a great coach for the Leafs, the team was more successful with him as coach and GM. They made it to the Conference Finals twice with him, never had a losing season and reached 100 points in the standings twice.
Quinn was the last coach and GM to get the Leafs to the Eastern Conference Finals. In addition, the team has not won a playoff series since.
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