David Quinn has two more days of blue skies and ocean waves and sandy sidewalks before he sets to the task ahead of him: coaching the San Jose Sharks.

It's been a whirlwind of a summer: preparations for the complete rebuild of his beach house, 23 rounds of golf, and a second chance at coaching in the NHL after a year away, a year that nearly saw him go stir crazy after he was fired by the New York Rangers on May 12, 2021, after three seasons as coach. It might have happened had he not been handed the reins to the U.S. men's national team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics and 2022 IIHF World Championship.

"It was very odd," Quinn said. "You can't prepare for it. You know when you get to this level you're going to get fired eventually. You've got to stay mentally strong and stay involved. You're always asking your team to be mentally tough and your players to be mentally tough and I think that tests a coach when you get fired for the first time in your life."