AHL mourns passing of Pat Quinn

The American Hockey League joins the rest of the hockey world in remembering Pat Quinn, who passed away Sunday night in Vancouver, B.C., after a lengthy illness.

Quinn was 71.

A native of Hamilton, Ont., Quinn was named head coach of the AHL’s Maine Mariners in 1978, a year after his retirement from a playing career that saw him skate in more than 600 National Hockey League games.

Quinn guided the Mariners to a 27-13-7 record before being promoted to Philadelphia to take over as head coach of the NHL’s Flyers; the Mariners would win the Calder Cup later that season.

Quinn went on to coach parts of 20 seasons in the NHL with Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton, reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in 1980 and 1994 and twice winning the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s outstanding coach.