Sharks Name David Quinn Head Coach
The new bench boss is here.
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) July 26, 2022
Say hello to #SJSharks Head Coach David Quinn! 👋 pic.twitter.com/JueT5LiLKE
Quinn, 55, most recently served as head coach for Team USA at both the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and 2022 World Championship. Quinn guided Team USA to a fourth-place finish at the World Championship and helped lead the youngest team in the Olympics to a perfect preliminary round record before suffering a shootout loss in the quarterfinals.
Quinn was named the head coach of the New York Rangers on May 23, 2018, and under his direction for three seasons, the team compiled a 97-87-25 record, along with one appearance in the qualification round in the 2019-20 campaign. In his three years, the Rangers held the league's eighth-best power-play percentage (22.1%), ranked seventh in team blocked shots (4,195) and takeaways (2,244), and was tied for tenth in wins when trailing first (52). In each campaign, the team continued to improve under his direction, developing one of the league's youngest rosters. The Rangers finished the 2018-19 campaign with an average age of 25.5 and followed the next season with eight players who were 21-or-younger. Despite only playing 70 games before the 2019-20 season was shortened, Quinn guided the Rangers to a 37-28-5 record (.564), which over an 82-game span is a 92-point pace. Adam Fox, who made his NHL debut under Quinn in 2019-20, was awarded the Norris Trophy in 2020-21, given to the defenseman who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position. Fox led league defensemen in assists and finished second in points.
Quinn served as head coach at Boston University from 2013-18 and went 105-69-21 under his direction. The program made the NCAA tournament in four consecutive seasons (2015-18), including three regional final appearances, won two Hockey East tournament titles and two Hockey East Regular Season titles. In the 2014-15 season, Quinn helped Boston to the National Championship game, becoming the fourth head coach in NCAA history to win each of his first three tournament games to reach the final. He was selected as the Hockey East and New England Coach of the Year, and was runner-up for the Spencer Penrose Award, given to the top Division I coach in the nation. Quinn was a part of the hockey program prior to his head coaching tenure, serving as the associate head coach from 2004-09 and helped Boston win the NCAA National Championship in 2009.
In his first professional stint as head coach in the American Hockey League, Quinn compiled a 115-94-7-20 record. Under his guidance in the 2010-11 season, Lake Erie finished second in the North Division and secured their first ever playoff berth after earning a franchise-best 44-28-3-5 record.
Quinn also served as an assistant coach for Northeastern University and the University of Nebraska-Omaha in the NCAA, Team USA, and with the Colorado Avalanche (2012-13). Colorado finished the shortened season third in takeaways and fourth in blocked shots among all NHL teams. As an assistant with Team USA, he helped the women's team to two World Championship Silver Medals in 1999 and 2000.
Initially selected by the Minnesota North Stars in the first round of the 1984 NHL Draft, Quinn played three collegiate seasons for the Boston Terriers from 1984 to 1987. He signed a contract with the New York Rangers in 1991 and appeared in 19 games in 1991-92 with the AHL's Binghamton Rangers. The next year, he joined the Cleveland Lumberjacks in the International Hockey League, recording 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 60 games. The defenseman also represented Team USA at the 1986 IIHF World Junior Championship, winning a bronze medal.