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Quinn Excited to Coach at Juniors

Written by: Tyler Bodman on 18th November 2008

Pat Quinn and Steve Yzerman share a laugh at the HHOF induction ceremony | read this item

All eyes are now focused squarely on Pat Quinn and the rest of Canada’s 38-man development camp roster for the upcoming World Junior Championship.

Quinn was named head coach of the team back in September after Benoit Groulx stepped down. Groulx accepted a head coaching job with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League.

Quinn, when he was head coach of the Maple Leafs, was often criticized by the Toronto media for not being able to coach young players. He proved them wrong last spring when he coached the under-18 team to a gold medal in Russia.

“I don’t know why it’s a knock,” said Quinn as he watched some of his players going through a skate. “I’ve had young teams before. I took over a young team in Philadelphia. When I first came to the Leafs, we had three 20-year-olds on defence. A lot of it is bogus stuff made up by the Toronto media, they don’t know what to write so they write bull.”

“I love the transition. What you’re doing doesn’t really change, whether you’re teaching 10-year-olds or 18-year-olds, you always have certain objectives.”

The switch from coaching men to teenagers has never fazed Quinn. He even relishes the challenge. Which is a good thing for Quinn. This year’s team is going to be a lot younger than usual. Currently there are seven age-eligible players in the NHL who are not expected to join the team.

“I love the transition. What you’re doing doesn’t really change, whether you’re teaching 10-year-olds or 18-year-olds, you always have certain objectives,” said Quinn. “Work hard to prepare a plan for them that they can work with. Try to understand the skill level you have and to create a system of play, try to encourage them. They’re young guys, we’ll have a young team.”

After coaching Team Canada to a gold in the Olympics in 2002, he finished out of the medals in 2006. He is eager to once again prove his worth on the international stage.

“I think it’ll be a great experience. There’s a lot of good young men, I should have a lot of fun with. We have to keep our eye on what we have to do and not get distracted by the attention that’s going to happen playing in Ottawa.”

With training camp opening up on Friday, Quinn and the rest of Hockey Canada will have four days to cut 16 players from camp. From there they have three exhibition games, Dec. 18, 21 and 23, before the tournament opens in Ottawa on Boxing Day. Every game can be seen live on TSN.

Brampton goalie, Brandon Foote, made 16 saves for his seventh straight win. The Battalion out-shot the 67’s 38-18.

Four players in the game will be playing this Thursday in the ADT Canada vs. Russia hockey challenge. Three players, captain Cody Hodgson, Matt Duchene for Team Canada, and Evgeny Grachev for Team Russia, will represent Brampton in the upcoming game, as will 67’s captain Logan Couture.

The fact that the next time they play will be against each other and not as line mates anymore was not lost on Duchene and Grachev.

“It’ll be cool. I actually played against him [Grachev] in Russia in the spring,” said Duchene. “His line and my line were matched up the whole game. He’s a tough guy to play against.”

“They asked me on the bench if I would fight him [Duchene] on Thursday,” said a smiling Grachev. “I said ‘yes, the day before in practice.’ Cody [Hodgson] too.”

The two teams will finish their home and home series on Friday Nov. 21 when the Battalion look to make it 15 in a row when they travel to Ottawa.

Topics: Head Coach, Hockey Canada, Pat Quinn