Today is a sad day for hockey. Legendary coaches Viktor Tikhonov, 84, and Pat Quinn, 71, have both passed away.
Tikhonov played as a defenseman in Russia for Dynamo Moscow team, that lasted from 1949 until his retirement in 1963. Right after retiring, he began his coaching career with Dynamo, taking on the role of assistant coach, a position he held for four years. He then took on the head coaching job for Dynamo Riga in the Russian League.
It was during the mid 1970s he gained more attention within Russia and around the world. He was named the coach for the Soviet Union World Championship, which he won Gold eight times in eleven years. He also won Olympic Gold with the Soviet team three straight tournaments, from 1984 to 1992, and a silver medal in the 1980 Olympics. Tikhonov has won the 1979 Challenge Cup and the 1981 Canada Cup.
He also had huge success in the Russian Hockey league, winning a staggering thirteen straight titles from 1978 to 1989. Tikhonov was widely known as a very strict coach, and was a coach who was faithful to the Soviet Union, so much that he was known for cutting players if he thought they were thinking of defecting to the NHL. He was a strong and no nonsense leader. He forced his players to practice for most of the calendar year, leaving little to no off time.
Tikhonov was one of the faces of “The Big Red Machine”, the Soviet Union’s nickname during his tenure. His style may have broken players down, and may seem almost too harsh, but when you look at his success, you see that his ways was a huge reason for the numerous years of dominance.
Pat Quinn is synonymous with Canadian hockey. He started out in 1968 with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a defenseman. While he was never viewed as an offensive addition, his size was what teams desired. He was known for dishing out punishing hits and being a feared player any time he stepped out on the ice. One of his most famous hits was when Bobby Orr was flying down the boards, looking to rush the puck and make a play. But Quinn, or should we say Quinn’s elbow, had other plans. Just about four feet before Orr could reach the blue line to enter the neutral zone, Quinn bowled over Orr with a smashing elbow.
Quinn played in the NHL for parts of eight more years, retiring in 1976-77 as a member of the Atlanta Flames. He immediately took on the assistants coach role with the Philadelphia Flyers, or as they were known during those years the Broad Street Bullies. He learned under the legendary Fred Shero for a season. Quinn was assigned to the Flyers minor league team, the Maine Mariners. After an impressive 47 games, with a record of 27-13-7, Quinn returned to the Flyers, this time replacing Bob McCammon as the head coach.
This started his career as a head coach, which was a long one. He coached for the Flyers for three more seasons before being replaced with eight games left in the season. He then took a job with the Los Angeles Kings for the 1984-85 season, which only lasted three seasons. After taking off another three years, he signed with the Vancouver Canucks, whom he played two seasons with in 1970 to 1972. Quinn coached the Canucks for five years, and had a high of a Stanley Cup Finals appearance, losing in seven games to the New York Rangers. This was Quinn’s second Finals appearance, but still had no Cup.
After the Finals loss, Quinn gave up his coaching duties to become the President and General Manager of the Canucks. This, however, only lasted 124 regular season games, as the coach chosen to replace him, Rick Ley, was fired after a losing record. Quinn returned to the bench and got the Canucks into the playoffs, but lost in round one and was subsequently fired.
Quinn then took on the Toronto Maple Leafs head coaching job and lasted there for seven years. They made the playoffs six times, with two Conference Finals losses, but was successful for the most part. He was fired in the 2005-06 season, along with his coaching staff, for failing to make the playoffs. After a four year hiatus, Quinn took a job with the Edmonton Oilers, but only lasted one season, unable to turn around the free falling franchise.
Quinn has also had immense success at the international level of hockey. In 2002, he led the Canadian Men’s Hockey team in the Olympics to their first Gold medal in fifty years. He has won a Gold medal in both the IIHF U-18 and U-20 tournaments, along with the World Cup in 2004 with Team Canada.
Quinn was a legendary coach in both the NHL and in the international level. He has two Jack Adams awards in his name, in 1980 and 1992. While he never won a Stanley Cup, he was able to take struggling franchises and turn them into contenders. He made the playoffs fifteen years out of twenty years as a head coach. He was a very tough player and coach alike, and his style showed in his coaching,
Please join us at Last Word At Sports in sending our condolences to both the Tikhonov and Quinn families. Rest In Peace.
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