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Mighty Quinn Normally gunshy, Toronto boss comes alive at deadlinePosted: Wednesday March 12, 2003 12:08 PM
It's easy to picture most general managers pacing their offices on trade deadline day with cell phones spot-welded to their ears and empty coffee cups overflowing from their trash cans. Not Toronto's Pat Quinn. For much of his career Quinn, who took over the Maple Leafs job in 1999 and held the Vancouver post for seven years before that, has been known around the league as Stand Pat for his reluctance to pull the trigger on headline-generating swaps. Last year, for example, the Leafs desperately needed reinforcement for a blueline corps that had been battered by injuries. A total of 10 defensemen changed uniforms on the final day of dealing. Not a one landed in Toronto. Afterward Quinn, sounding like a hopelessly bearish stock analyst, explained that, "sometimes people buy when they shouldn't buy." This time around Quinn threw his trademark caution to the wind and attacked the NHL flesh bazaar the way Jared tucks into his first Subway Club of the day. The Maple Leafs were already strong Stanley Cup contenders, especially in the weaker Eastern Conference. On the busiest deadline day ever -- 46 players were shuffled in 24 deals on Tuesday -- no team in the league did more to enhance its playoff chances. The overhaul started last Wednesday, when Quinn grabbed right wing Owen Nolan from the Sharks for centers Alyn McCauley and Brad Boyes and a first-round pick in this June's draft. Getting Nolan, a snarling power forward with a track record of postseason success, might have been enough to make the Leafs the winner of the unofficial deadline derby. But four days later Quinn pried veteran defenseman Glen Wesley from the Hurricanes for a second-round choice. Then, in the hours before the 3 p.m. ET Tuesday deadline, he snapped up center Doug Gilmour (from Montreal for a sixth-rounder) and defenseman Phil Housley (from Chicago for fourth- and ninth-round pick). The injection of so much new blood into a lineup this late in the season can wreak havoc with a team's chemistry. As Quinn, who's also the coach, said yesterday, "We'll have some team-building to do with the four new faces." That shouldn't be a problem. All four of the newcomers are former All-Stars with experience and playoff pedigrees. (Graybeards Gilmour and Housley, both 39, are two of the few current NHL players who were alive the last time Toronto won the Cup, in 1967.) The 31-year-old Nolan instantly adds an element of skill and brute force to the Toronto attack. He's a surly presence on the ice -- and, it must be said, at times in the dressing room -- and he'll be energized by his release from hockey purgatory in San Jose. After two down seasons in which he failed to score more than 24 goals (he has 24 this year) Nolan will flourish on Toronto's second line, where he'll be freed from the pressures of the captaincy and franchise-star status he held with the Sharks. Gilmour is a Toronto icon who had a career-best 127 points with the Leafs in 1992-93 and led the team into the Conference Finals in 1993 and '94. He'll slide onto the third or fourth line. Gilmour has 11 goals and 19 assists this season, but he was acquired for his clout in the dressing room as much for his remaining skill on the ice. Several Toronto players, including captain Mats Sundin and Gary Roberts, lobbied Quinn heavily in recent weeks to acquire Gilmour. He'll assume a leadership role similar to the one Steve Yzerman carries in Detroit. Housley and Wesley, 34, were brought in to enliven a defense that has been listless in recent weeks. Housley, who has a broken foot and won't be back until the end of March, is an excellent puck mover. Don't be surprised if he's running the Leafs' power play once the playoffs start. Wesley is a solid and physical veteran defender, a commodity the team has lacked most of this season. The Maple Leafs paid a heavy price to stock up for a Cup run. They'll miss those four draft picks come June, especially if they flame out in the playoffs. Nolan is due more than $20 million over the next three seasons. Gilmour gets $3 million and Housley $2 million if their options are picked up for next year. (Wesley is a free agent after this season.) But on a day when too many teams looked to dump salary and clear their books in anticipation of a work stoppage next year, it was refreshing to see someone load up for a run at the Cup. The time is now for the veteran Leafs, and they're better suited for the rigors of the postseason than they were a week ago. Stand Pat shops til he drops at the trade deadline? If that can happen, anything's possible. Even the end of Toronto's 35-year Stanley Cup drought. Sports Illustrated staff writer Stephen Cannella covers the NHL for the magazine and will contribute frequently to SI.com. |
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