David Quinn puts fairness into perspective on NHL Return to Play

Anthony Scultore Updated: Jan 29, 2022

David Quinn is getting himself and his team ready to take on the Carolina Hurricanes. In a new episode of “Home Ice with David Quinn” which will air on MSG at 7:00 pm, he provides key insights into the NHL’s Return to Play format. One of the big questions on everyone’s mind lately is how fair this format is to all teams. If you’ve been following closely to the complaints coming from Carolina and in particular Quinn’s counterpart, Rod Brind’Amour he doesn’t think it is fair at all.

Quinn in response to whether the proposed return to play plan is fair

“I think we all have to be very careful when we are talking about fair. Because when I think about fair right now I think about the 100,000 people that have lost their lives and the loved ones that have been effected by it. I think about the first responders who have been exposed to this terrible disease mentally and physically. I think about the 30-40 million people that have filed for unemployment. I think about the small and big business that have been shut down. I think about the seniors in high school and college that will never experience one of life’s great moments. So I think we all have to be very sensitive to the word fair.”

The response from Quinn is not only appropriate but very somber. “And we have been very fortunate that we continue to play a game that we love and coach a game that we love,” he continued. “I understand fairness in the small context of our sport, but I think we all have to keep the word fair in perspective.”

Coach Quinn: “I think we all have to be very careful when we talk about fair. When I think about fair right now, I think about the 100,000 people who have lost their lives, and their loved ones who have been affected by it.” pic.twitter.com/Q9WDaV4cs8
— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 29, 2020

Quinn on his initial reaction upon hearing the plan

You can only imagine how thrilled the 2nd year head coach is to get this chance. “We’re just excited about the progress that we continue to make and hopefully we are inevitably playing in a playoff series. And obviously it’s a difficult time in the world today and the NHL has been working hand in hand with the government to do this in the proper way and the safest way possible. So we’re just excited that a plan has been laid out and the fact that we’ve made some progress.”

Quinn on the excitement from the players

“We all were excited about the good news that we were able to play again. And have a chance to play again,” Quinn said. “We’ve been in constant contact with our players over the last two and a half months. And our guys are excited about the possibility of playing again. Our guys are in a good mindset. We’re feeling really good about the way we were playing.” You can bet that Quinn and the boys will be amped and ready to go.

You can catch the full interview this Sunday at 7PM on MSG.