Former NHL Stanley Cup Winning Coach Quits his Job and Leaves the Team Due to Mental Health Issues
Marc Crawford was once a very successful NHL coach, and unfortunately, he has recently resigned from a job in Switzerland due to mental health issues.
Former Vancouver Canucks head coach Marc Crawford has stepped down as head coach of the Swiss hockey team, the ZSC Lions, citing mental health concerns.
For the last several months, I have been investing in intensive therapy with the hope of understanding the depths of my own mental health.
This process has proven to be both challenging and revealing to me as a coach, a husband, a father, and an expecting grandfather and finally as a person.»
- Marc Crawford
The Lions are defending champions of Switzerland's National League, leading the standings at 22-5-2, a point up on Lausanne, 21-8-3.
The 63-year-old Marc Crawford was in his third season of his second stint behind the bench for the Lions after coaching the club previously from 2012-16. He coached Auston Matthews when he was a part of the team.
One of the most iconic figures in NHL history, Crawford coached the Canucks from 1999-2006, guiding the "West Coast Express" era.
His 246 regular-season wins as Vancouver's coach rank second to Alain Vigneault's 313. His son, Dylan Crawford, is the video coach of the Canucks.
Among the many career highlights for Crawford were winning a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996 and coaching Team Canada at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.
In addition, he spent time on the bench as head coach of Ottawa, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Quebec/Colorado. With 556 NHL coaching victories, he ranks 25th all-time.
Crawford played for the Canucks for the duration of his NHL career, making 176 appearances between 1981 and 1987.
In 2019-20, while an assistant coach with the Chicago Blackhawks, Crawford was suspended for a month during an investigation into allegations of physical and verbal abuse from former players, including ex-Canucks Brent Sopel and Harold Druken.
More recently, in February 2023, he was suspended for one game by the National League after allegedly making a homophobic remark toward a referee.
