San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn stands behind the bench during a game against the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh on Thu Mar 14, 2024. Quinn was fired by the Sharks on Wed Apr 24, 2024 (AP file photo)
By Mary Walsh
On Wednesday morning, the Sharks announced that Head Coach David Quinn and Head Athletic Trainer Ray Tufts would not be returning next season. In their press release, the Sharks said:
“After going through our end of the season process of internal meetings and evaluating where our team is at and where we want our group to go, we have made the difficult decision to make a change at the head coach position,” said Grier. “David is a good coach and an even better person. I would like to personally thank him for his hard work over these past two seasons. He and his staff did an admirable job under some difficult circumstances, and I sincerely appreciate how they handled the situation.”
The reasons for parting ways were not purely performance-related. That is evident from what Mike Grier said as recently as last Saturday at the end of season media availability:
“I think the staff up here did a good job communicating and motivating the players throughout the year. I don’t think they ever, you know, it would have been easy to just kind of throw your hands up and not put the effort in, to go through extra video sessions and talk with the players and try and get the players better. So I think they did a really good job with that kind of in this situation. I think it was something that was needed and that they should be proud of.”
On Saturday, Grier explained how the season was worse than he had expected, but did not put a finger on one specific problem, like coaching:
“Overall it was not what I expected, I’m sure what they expect in the room for various different reasons. I give the group credit, I told them they came in here, they were positive. They got along and the coaches deserve credit for that too., kind of keeping the guys on track, staying positive and motivating them. You know, you’ve seen situations, in not just hockey but all sports, where teams in this situation where it kind of goes off the rails and things get bad and you hear guys bickering and not getting along. But the guys came here and worked every day.”
Grier went so far as to say that this season was rock bottom:
“I hope so. If this isn’t I don’t know what is. I mean it was a difficult season. Like I kind of said earlier, it was worse than I expected coming into the season. I didn’t think we were a playoff team but I thought we’d be better than we were. From the start we had to the injuries everything just kind of snowballed. So yes I would hope this is rock bottom and we can kind of progress and take some steps forward next year.”
The Sharks also announced on Tuesday that long time Head Athletic Trainer Ray Tufts would not be returning:
“Ray spent more than two decades overseeing the care and well-being of our players,” said Grier. “We thank him for his service to the organization and our players and wish him and his family the best in the future.”
Mary Lisa is a San Jose Sharks beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com
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