Move over Kevin, there’s a new Quinn in town

I first thought when I heard Pat Quinn was the new coach of the Edmonton Oilers was "oh, God, you have got to be kidding me." Certainly the Oilers weren't going to hire one of those coaches who have been around for a million years with nothing to show for it.

I seethed (well, no, not really, but I did shake my head). When I'm frustrated, I instantly open a new "blog post" in Microsoft Word and get as much hate and vitriol onto the page as possible. But by chance I had already written a blog that day, and I thought I'd give myself a little more time to formulate my thoughts.

And here they are.

First off, Pat Quinn may not have gotten the job done in Vancouver or Toronto (or Los Angeles and Philadelphia for that matter) but he still has an impressive track record. His teams have made the playoffs 11 of his last 12 years behind the bench (the lone exception was the 2005-06 Toronto Maple Leafs, who missed the playoffs by a few points), and in eight of those 11 years his teams advanced past the first round. By comparison, the Oilers have advanced past the first round three times in 18 years.

Sidenote: While looking at Quinn's old records, I stumbled across the name Jason Allison, who has to be one of the great "whatever happened to…?" guys in recent NHL history. Allison, a 6'3 and 215 lbs. centerman, came into his own with the Bruins at age 22. He posted an 83 point season, following it with a 76 point season. After going through a slew of injuries in 1999-2000, he came back with a 36 goal, 95 point effort in 2000-'01. After that, things get weird. Allison signed in Los Angeles, where he puts up a respectable 74 points in 73 games. The following year – while averaging over a point a game – he was seriously injured in a game, and suffered from whiplash. He came back three years later (at age 30) and puts up 60 points in 66 games. Keeping in mind, this was his first season in three years. After that, he was always named as a potential free agent signing for a number of struggling teams, but never turned up anywhere. He now runs a horse farm in Ontario. Weird.

Anyway, Quinn's record holds up, and so does Tom Renney's. Renney took over the most dysfunctional team in the league, guided them to the playoffs after 5-6 seasons on the outside looking in, and helped turn the Rangers from a laughing-stock to a borderline Eastern Conference contender. In his three full years behind the bench, he made the playoffs each time – twice advancing to the second round. And, as I've argued before, the Rangers were a few bounces away from venturing deeper into the post-season.

So at least their resumes hold up.

But are these two the right ones to lead the Oilers away from their world of mediocrity, with a little help from Kelly B.? I'd argue the following points in their favour:

• They are not members of the Old Boys Club. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me.
  
• They won't have the same affinity for a few of the "chosen ones," like a certain coach did.
  
• The MacTavish face is now a thing of the past, which we can look back on and laugh about. It used to signify "something bad just happened and our coach has no idea what to do about it."
  
• The days of unsuccessful stick measurements, three-man defensive units while down a goal, playing a 39-year-old goaltender, 164 consecutive games, and Schremp-baiting are likely over.
  
• Perhaps these coaches will finally lift the defensive burden off of Shawn Horcoff, so he can become the $7-million centerman we always knew he was.
  

A few of my friends have summed it up more succinctly, however, by telling me "at least it's real change." And I can't argue with that, after watching a 2008-'09 Oilers team that can be best described as dysfunctional and inept.

Of course, there are a few issues as well. The Oilers went the veteran coach route instead of hiring an up-and-comer out of the AHL (an AHL coach would have been my choice, as the Oilers are a young team and I'm not a big advocate of recycling the same known guys over and over… call it the Keenan Code). Both Quinn and Renney are coming from veteran teams, and haven't had to deal with a team that is a strange mix of a few veterans and a bunch of young guys who look like they're still in need of a growth spurt. And while the coaching duo has had some success, you can't ignore that they both never reached the apex, and at one point coached teams that many thought could have won the Stanley Cup.

But that's a concern for another day (a day far away, because the Oilers are no where near "Cup contender"). I give this move a thumbs up.