Pat Quinn statue unveiled outside Rogers Arena in Vancouver

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      The Big Irishman is gone, but he won't be forgotten outside the home of the Vancouver Canucks.

      This evening, team president Trevor Linden and former players Jyrki Lumme and Dave Babych unveiled a life-size bronze statue of former president, general manager, and coach Pat Quinn.

      It came shortly before the Canucks were about to take the ice against the Calgary Flames.

      The statue features Quinn standing in front of a hockey team bench and holding a card listing the names of players on the 1994 Canucks, who advanced to the Stanley Cup final.

      It's designed by Norm Williams, who's also responsible for the nearby statue of former Canucks coach Roger Nielsen.

      Quinn coached the gold-medal-winning Canadian men's Olympic hockey team at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.

      "During the 2002 Winter Games, Quinn would often sit on a certain bench outside of Canada House and athletes from all sports would come and chat with him about anything and everything, specifically the ones that were not performing well," the Canucks stated on their website. "The statue's overall depiction reflects Pat's belief that all were part of the team, including fans, and was specifically created with that inclusion in mind."

      One of those who posed for pictures was former Canucks captain Stan Smyl, who's sitting on the left in the image below beside Quinn's widow Sandra and daughter Kalli.

      Quinn died at Vancouver General Hospital on November 23, 2014.

      In addition to Quinn and Nielsen, the only other head coach who took the Canucks to the Stanley Cup finals was Alain Vigneault.

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