| Position: | Defence |
| Shoots: | Right |
| Height Ft: | 6 |
| Height In: | 3 |
| Weight Lb: | 230 |
| Ntl Team: | CAN |
| Birth Date: | 22 October 1968 |
| Birth Place: | Boucherville, Quebec, Canada |
| Career Start: | 1988 |
| Career End: | 2005 |
| Draft: | 14th overall |
| Draft Year: | 1987 |
| Draft Team: | Boston Bruins |
Stéphane Yvon Quintal (born October 22, 1968) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 16 seasons. He served as senior vice president of player safety for the NHL from 2014 to 2016.
Quintal played 16 NHL seasons before retiring as a player in August 2005. He had been the last Montreal Canadiens player to wear number 5 before the Canadiens retired it in honour of Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion.
Quintal joined the Department of Player Safety, one of the NHL's disciplinary arms, at its creation at the opening of the 2011–12 season. The head of the department was initially Brendan Shanahan, who left his position after the completion of the 2013–14 regular season to become president of the Toronto Maple Leafs. At the time, Quintal became the head of the department on an interim basis. On September 8, 2014, the NHL named Quintal the permanent head of the department with the title of senior vice president of player safety.[1] Quintal continued Shanahan's practice of releasing videos explaining his rulings on plays that were sent to the league office for review. However, he only narrated French-language videos for incidents involving the Canadiens or Ottawa Senators, a practice dating to when Shanahan ran the department. All other videos are narrated by a deputy, Patrick Burke. He held the post until 2016, when he was succeeded by George Parros.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 1984–85 | Richelieu Riverains | QMAAA | 41 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 68 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 27 | ||
| 1985–86 | Granby Bisons | QMJHL | 67 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 152 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1986–87 | Granby Bisons | QMJHL | 67 | 13 | 41 | 54 | 178 | 8 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 10 | ||
| 1987–88 | Granby Bisons | QMJHL | 23 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 91 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987–88 | Hull Olympiques | QMJHL | 15 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 47 | 19 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 30 | ||
| 1987–88 | Hull Olympiques | MC | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 1988–89 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 26 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 29 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Maine Mariners | AHL | 16 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 38 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1989–90 | Maine Mariners | AHL | 37 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 45 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 89 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 1990–91 | Maine Mariners | AHL | 23 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 49 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 26 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 32 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 1992–93 | St. Louis Blues | NHL | 75 | 1 | 10 | 11 | 100 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 1993–94 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 81 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 119 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1994–95 | Winnipeg Jets | NHL | 43 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 78 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1995–96 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 68 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 117 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1996–97 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 71 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 100 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 1997–98 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 71 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 97 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | ||
| 1998–99 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 82 | 8 | 19 | 27 | 84 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999–2000 | New York Rangers | NHL | 75 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 72 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 60 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001–02 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 75 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 87 | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 12 | ||
| 2002–03 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 67 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 70 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2003–04 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 73 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 82 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 2004–05 | Asiago Hockey | ITA | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | ||
| NHL totals | 1,037 | 63 | 180 | 243 | 1,320 | 52 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 51 | ||||
After taking over the job from Brendan Shanahan on April 11, 2014, Quintal was quickly faced with a repeat offender in the form of Minnesota Wild forward Matt Cooke. Cooke had kneed Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie during round one of the 2014 playoffs, ending his season. Cooke received a 7-game suspension and returned for round two of the playoffs.[2]