Marc Crawford
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Marc Crawford (b. February 13, 1961 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada) is a Canadian National Hockey League head coach of the Los Angeles Kings and former forward for the Vancouver Canucks. Crawford, along with Todd Bertuzzi and the Canucks is the subject of a 19 Million USD lawsuit by Steve Moore. He was drafted by the Vancouver Canucks in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft, 4th round, 70th overall. Standing 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) tall, and weighing 185 lb (84 kg).
As a rookie left winger with the Canucks, Crawford played in the 1981-82 Stanley Cup finals where Vancouver was defeated by the New York Islanders in four straight.
Crawford would spend the next six years flying between Vancouver and Fredericton, New Brunswick, alternating between the Canucks and their farm team, the Fredericton Express of the AHL. All this flying would eventually earn him the nickname "747", though most contemporary Canucks fans now know him as "Crow".
As head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, he successfully led his team to victory of the 1996 Stanley Cup championship by sweeping the Florida Panthers 4-0 in the finals on a goal by Uwe Krupp. This in the first year after the team had relocated from Quebec City (See Quebec Nordiques). The following two years would see the Avalanche bow out early in the playoffs. General manager Pierre Lacroix would offer him a one-year contract extension, but feeling that he was deserving of a more lucrative and long-term contract, Crawford resigned as Colorado coach on May 27, 1998, and proceeded to sign on as head coach of the Canucks in January, 1999.
Crawford was also the head coach of the 1998 Canadian Olympic hockey team where they finished 4th, to the disappointment of many Canadians. Many fans blame him for using Ray Bourque in the shoot-out against Dominik Hašek instead of Wayne Gretzky as the reason why Canada did so poorly. However, he continues to be considered one of the elite coaches in the NHL.
In 1995, he won the NHL's Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year. He is currently the youngest NHL coach in history to do so.
He is the 2nd youngest Coach to make it to 400 wins after Scotty Bowman
On April 25, 2006, the Vancouver Canucks organization released Crawford from his disappointment with the club after the team failed to qualify for the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs. General Manager Dave Nonis cited the need for "a change" in the organization as the reason for his dismissal while Crawford, himself, agreed in the ensuing press conference that he felt the players had "become distracted" and tuned him out. Two days after being released by the Canucks, he issued a statement thanking the Vancouver fans for 7 great years of support.
On May 22, 2006, the Kings named Crawford head coach.
[edit] Coaching record
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | T | OTL | Pts | Finish | W | L | Win % | Result | ||
| QUE | 94-95 | 48 | 30 | 13 | 5 | - | 65 | 1st in Northeast | 2 | 4 | .333 | Conference Quarter-Finalist |
| COL | 95-96 | 82 | 47 | 25 | 10 | - | 104 | 1st in Pacific | 16 | 6 | .615 | Won Stanley Cup |
| COL | 96-97 | 82 | 49 | 24 | 9 | - | 107 | 1st in Pacific | 10 | 7 | .588 | Conference Finalist |
| COL | 97-98 | 82 | 39 | 26 | 17 | - | 95 | 1st in Pacific | 3 | 4 | .429 | Conference Quarter-Finalist |
| QUE/COL Total | 294 | 165 | 88 | 41 | - | 371 | - | 31 | 21 | .596 | 4 Playoff Appearances 1 Stanley Cup |
|
| VAN | 98-99 | 37 | 8 | 23 | 3 | - | 19 | 4th in Northwest | - | - | - | - |
| VAN | 99-00 | 82 | 30 | 29 | 15 | 8 | 83 | 4th in Northwest | - | - | - | |
| VAN | 00-01 | 82 | 36 | 28 | 11 | 7 | 90 | 4th in Northwest | 0 | 4 | .000 | Conference Quarter-Finalist |
| VAN | 01-02 | 82 | 42 | 30 | 7 | 3 | 94 | 2nd in Northwest | 2 | 4 | .333 | Conference Quarter-Finalist |
| VAN | 02-03 | 82 | 45 | 23 | 13 | 1 | 104 | 2nd in Northwest | 7 | 7 | .500 | Conference Semi-Finalist |
| VAN | 03-04 | 82 | 43 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 101 | 2nd in Northwest | 3 | 4 | .429 | Conference Quarter-Finalist |
| VAN | 05-06 | 82 | 42 | 32 | - | 8 | 92 | 4th in Northwest | - | - | - | - |
| VAN Total | 529 | 246 | 189 | 59 | 32 | 583 | 12 | 19 | .387 | 4 Playoff Appearances | ||
| LA | 06-07 | 73 | 25 | 34 | - | 14 | 64 | |||||
| LA Total | 73 | 25 | 34 | - | 14 | 64 | ||||||
| Total | 894 | 435 | 311 | 100 | 45 | 1,017 | 43 | 40 | .518 | 8 Playoff Appearances | ||
[edit] Moore Incident
Crawford was the subject of substantial criticism following the injury of Steve Moore. On Feb 16, 2004 Moore caused a minor injury to Crawford's captain, no penalty was called, and the league latter reviewed the incident and decided no penalty was warranted. However, Crawford was vocal about the incident and the failure of the league to respond. [1]
On a March 8th rematch, Todd Bertuzzi sucker-punched Moore from behind, and rode him into the ice, causing Moore to suffer 3 broken vertebrae, and ending his career. In the ensuing commotion, while Moore was bleeding on the ice, Crawford can be seen laughing. [2]
Crawford, along with Bertuzzi and the Canucks organization, is the subject of a 19+ million USD lawsuit by Moore. According to the suit, following the Feb 16 incident, Crawford encouraged his players to seek revenge, which led in part to the injury to Moore. Specifically, the suit alledges that Crawford, Burke & Bertuzzi entered into "an unlawful plan and agreement to assault, batter and injure Moore at a future date for the injuries that Naslund had suffered during the Feb. 16 game."[3]
The Canucks were fined and paid $250,000 USD to the NHL for "...failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to [the incident]."
Derek Morris was quoted as saying "The worst thing about it is their coach is over there laughing about it and that just shows the class of that guy"
| Colorado Avalanche Head Coaches |
|---|
| Crawford • Hartley • Granato • Quenneville |
| Vancouver Canucks Head Coaches |
|---|
| Laycoe • Stasiuk • McCreary • Maloney • Kurtenbach • Neale • Neilson • Laforge • Watt • McCammon • Quinn • Ley • Renney • Keenan • Crawford • Vigneault |
| Los Angeles Kings Head Coaches |
|---|
| Kelly • Laycoe • Wilson • Regan • Glover • Pulford • Stewart • Berry • MacDonald • Perry • Vachon • Neilson • Quinn • Murphy • Ftorek • Webster • Melrose • Robinson • Murray • Torchetti • Crawford |
| Current Head Coaches of the National Hockey League | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Conference | |||
| Atlantic | Northeast | Southeast | |
| Julien (New Jersey) | Lewis (Boston) | Hartley (Atlanta) | |
| Nolan (NY Islanders) | Ruff (Buffalo) | Laviolette (Carolina) | |
| Renney (NY Rangers) | Carbonneau (Montreal) | Martin (Florida) | |
| Stevens (Philadelphia) | B. Murray (Ottawa) | Tortorella (Tampa Bay) | |
| Therrien (Pittsburgh) | Maurice (Toronto) | Hanlon (Washington) | |
| Western Conference | |||
| Central | Northwest | Pacific | |
| Savard (Chicago) | Playfair (Calgary) | Carlyle (Anaheim) | |
| Hitchcock (Columbus) | Quenneville (Colorado) | Tippett (Dallas) | |
| Babcock (Detroit) | MacTavish (Edmonton) | Crawford (Los Angeles) | |
| Trotz (Nashville) | Lemaire (Minnesota) | Gretzky (Phoenix) | |
| A. Murray (St. Louis) | Vigneault (Vancouver) | Wilson (San Jose) | |
| Preceded by Pierre Page |
Head Coaches of the Quebec Nordiques 1994–1995 |
Succeeded by franchise became Colorado Avalanche |
| Preceded by previously Quebec Nordiques |
Head Coaches of the Colorado Avalanche 1995–1999 |
Succeeded by Bob Hartley |
| Preceded by Mike Keenan |
Head Coaches of the Vancouver Canucks 1999–2006 |
Succeeded by Alain Vigneault |
| Preceded by John Torchetti |
Head Coaches of the Los Angeles Kings 2006– |
Succeeded by current coach |
Categories: Fredericton Express players | 1961 births | Canadian ice hockey players | Quebec Nordiques coaches | Colorado Avalanche coaches | Vancouver Canucks coaches | Jack Adams Award winners | Stanley Cup champions | Ontario sportspeople | Vancouver Canucks players | Cornwall Royals alumni | Cornwall Royals coaches | Living people | People from Belleville, Ontario
