Quinn says he won't give up coaching

TORONTO (CP) -- Pat Quinn says he intends to eventually relinquish his general manager's duties with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs hired Quinn in June 1998 to be their head coach. Last July they also made him general manager after president Ken Dryden relinquished the title and associate GM Mike Smith declined a new contract.
While some might have assumed Quinn would gradually ease himself out of coaching and again become GM only -- as he did in Vancouver -- Quinn said Thursday he views his general manager's job as temporary.
"I feel comfortable with it," he said of the current setup. "It wasn't something I wanted, but right now it's working.
"I don't know if it'll work long-term. I don't think the best situation (for him) is manager-coach. For a lot of reasons. But it is a fact right now so we'll deal with it. Some day that's going to change.
"In the meantime, we're kind of in a stop-gap situation. Suddenly, Mike was gone. Nobody expected that. At least we didn't anyway. But you move in and shore things up.
"Some day along the way some steps will be made probably to bring in a manager."
Not a new coach?
"No," he replied. "I want to coach."
Quinn was a finalist for the coach-of-the-year award in his first season with the Leafs, when they went all the way to the Stanley Cup semifinals.

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