Marc Crawford

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Marc Crawford at the 2006 NHL Awards Ceremony.

Marc Crawford (born 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. After a brief stint as an analyst on Hockey Night in Canada, Crawford became head coach of the Vancouver 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 questioned his choices to take part in the overtime shoot-out in the semi-final loss to the Czech Republic, electing not to use Wayne Gretzky or Steve Yzerman. 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. After missing the playoffs in 2005-06, Crawford was fired by the Canucks. On May 22, 2006, the Kings named Crawford their new head coach.

Coaching record

Moore Incident

Crawford was the subject of substantial criticism following the injury of Steve Moore. On February 16, 2004, Moore caused a minor concussion to Crawford's captain, Markus Naslund. No penalty was called on the play, and the league later 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] During a March 8, 2004 rematch, Todd Bertuzzi sucker-punched Moore from behind, and rode him into the ice, causing Moore to suffer 3 broken vertebrae, multiple facial lacerations, and ultimately ending his career. In the ensuing commotion, while Moore was bleeding on the ice, Crawford can clearly be seen laughing. ^[2] Crawford, along with Bertuzzi and the Canucks organization, is the subject of a $ 19+ million (US) lawsuit by Moore. According to the suit, following the February 16 incident, Crawford encouraged his players to seek revenge, which led in part to the injury to Moore. Specifically, the suit alleges 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."

References