The hockey executive known as “The Big Irishman” was remembered on St. Patrick’s Day with a street outside Rogers Arena  — Pat Quinn Way — renamed in his honour.
Pat Quinn joined the Canucks as their president and general manager in 1987 and later coached the club to the 1994 Stanley Cup Finals. As GM, he was responsible for selecting Trevor Linden second overall in the 1988 draft and also brought Pavel Bure to the league in 1989.
In 2002, he led the national men’s hockey team to Olympic gold, the first for Canada in 50 years. He was a minority owner of the Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Giants and won the Memorial Cup with the WHL club in 2007.
Quinn died in November. He was 71.
Both Linden and Bure were in attendance to honour Quinn on March 17 before the Canucks played the Philadelphia Flyers at Rogers Arena.
"We think about the numbers of games Pat won and that's part of it, but the reason we're here today is because Pat Quinn cared about people," Linden said at the street sign unveiling. The former Canucks captain became the franchise’s president of hockey operations last year.
"He loved his players. He loved his community,” he said.
The one-block portion of Abbott Street between Pacific and Expo boulevards is now Pat Quinn Way.Â
