Quinn returns to New York with Sharks seeking first win of season

NEW YORK --David Quinn knows his winless San Jose Sharks will play an important game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, NBCSCA, ESPN+, SN NOW). But it will also be meaningful for the coach.

Quinn got his NHL coaching start with the Rangers in 2018-19, and led them for three seasons until he was fired May 12, 2021.
"I'd be lying to you if I said no (it's not special)," Quinn said. "Yeah, it is, I mean, I had three great years in New York. I loved my time there. I loved the players. You know, unfortunately, it didn't end the way we all wanted it to, but it'll be pretty cool."
The Rangers were one point shy of a Stanley Cup Playoff spot when the 2019-20 season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with 18 wins in their last 29 games (18-10-1). When play resumed, they were swept by the Carolina Hurricanes in the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
"I've been fortunate to be on teams where you have swagger and you know, if you show up and you do A, B and C, you're going to be successful and that was one of those teams," Quinn said. "We felt that when that pandemic hit we were one of the best teams in the NHL from Jan. 7 on.
"I mean, COVID affects people differently. … I think we had players that were concerned about coming back and playing in a bubble. It was crazy, unique circumstances. Things that you can never plan for. There's no blue book on how to handle coming back from the pandemic and going into a bubble and playing in front of nobody. Just a lot of things that are uncontrollable and things you don't experience."
The following season in 2020-21, the Rangers were 27-23-6 in the shortened 56-game season and failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing 11 points behind the New York Islanders in the East Division. Quinn was fired four days after the season ended.
Now, more than a year later, after coaching the United States men's team at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Quinn is back coaching in the NHL with the Sharks.
After losing two games to the Nashville Predators in the 2022 NHL Global Series in Prague to open the season, San Jose returned to North America to lose three more, including 5-2 at the New York Islanders on Tuesday. The Sharks (0-5-0) are one of three NHL teams without a win, along with the Minnesota Wild (0-3-0) and Vancouver Canucks (0-3-1). San Jose also has the worst goal differential in the League (minus-11), have not scored more than two goals in any game and rank last in the NHL in goals per game (1.60). The Sharks have allowed at least three goals in four of five games.
Only two San Jose players, center Nico Sturm and forward Evgeny Svechnikov, have scored as many as two goals. Five players have one.
"We're not that far off," Quinn said. "I know it feels like we are but we're really not. And you know, there are stretches where we look like a good hockey team. We're just not doing those things consistently."
San Jose had a spirited practice at Chelsea Piers on Wednesday, which lasted more than 70 minutes and included Quinn and the coaches spending about 10 minutes talking to the team on the ice before the practice began.
"Just touched on the fragility of our group, obviously, we're not feeling great about ourselves," Quinn said. "And when you haven't won a game, you have to understand why, but there are things we can do on the controllables that we can be better at that will put us in a better position to win."
The Sharks hired Quinn on July 26 to replace Bob Boughner, who was fired July 1 after San Jose went 32-37-13 last season and finished 20 points behind the Predators for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference. It was the third straight season it failed to qualify for the postseason after reaching the playoffs 14 of the previous 15 seasons.
"I believe in this group -- we as coaches -- and I said that to [the players], I said, you know, hopefully you guys think you're as good as we think you are," Quinn said. "And I know we're not that far off and there's a lot of believability within the staff and [the players] need to feel the same amount of confidence that we feel in them and that's the only way we're going to get out of this."
Quinn's first NHL win came Oct. 11, 2018, against the Sharks in his fourth game. Would it be more special for him if his first win with the Sharks came against the Rangers?
"I don't care if we beat the Westchester Rangers, I just want to freaking win," he said.