Pat Burns, who enjoyed instant success wherever he coached and who capped his tumultuous career by guiding the New Jersey Devils to Stanley Cup glory in 2003, has died of cancer. He was 58.
Burns died Friday in Sherbrooke, Que.
The former NHL coach battled cancer of the colon and the liver in 2004 and 2005 and hoped he had beaten the disease, but in January 2009 doctors found it had spread to his lungs.
The third time, he initially opted to forgo any further treatment, but then decided to go with chemotherapy to try to extend his life as long as possible.
“Just as they will remember Pat for his success as a coach, hockey fans also will remember his humour, his honesty, his humanity and his courage,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “As it mourns the loss of an outstanding contributor to the game, the National Hockey League sends heartfelt condolences to Pat’s family and friends.”
Burns remained as a consultant to the Devils for some time after being diagnosed with the third cancer. And, even though his voice had weakened, he did some morning hockey commentaries on CKAC, a French-language Montreal radio station.
Burns was the only coach to win the Adams Trophy as the NHL’s top bench boss with three different teams — Montreal in 1989, Toronto in 1993 and Boston in 1998.
His last official public appearance was in early October, when he attended the groundbreaking ceremony for an arena to be named in his honour in Stanstead, Que.
The wise-cracking Burns couldn’t resist a jab at the media, some of whom had reported a few weeks earlier that he had died.
“I’m not dead yet,” he told journalists in a hushed tone, his frail body and sunken cheeks showing the physical toll the lengthy battle had taken.
“I’m still alive.”
After Burns admitted at his previous public outing last March he likely wouldn’t live another year, an online petition gathered thousands of names urging that he be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
New Jersey general manager Lou Lamoriello said categorically Burns would be inducted “in the very near future,” but when 2010 inductees were announced his name was not among them.
“Pat was a close friend to us all, while dedicating his life to his family and to the game of hockey,” Lamoriello said in a statement. “Today, the hockey world has lost a great friend and ambassador.”
It was while coaching the Devils that Burns discovered something was wrong in the weeks leading up to the 2004 NHL playoffs. He announced the day after the Devils were eliminated that he’d been diagnosed with colon cancer.
“For those who know me well, I’ve never backed down from any fight, and I’m not going to back down from this one,” he said after finding out he was sick.
He received hundreds of cards and emails from well-wishers, but it was a tough year: Burns’ wife, Line, also underwent surgery in 2004, and their Florida home was damaged by a hurricane.
He let Lamoriello know the team should replace him, and Larry Robinson was named head coach.
Then, hopeful he’d kicked the dreaded disease, the second body blow was delivered — liver cancer. That forced him to have surgery and retreat to his lakeside home in New Hampshire to recuperate and undergo yet more chemotherapy in Boston.
He was speaking enthusiastically of returning to work when cancer struck a third time. It was then he admitted the end was near.
A big, robust man in his heyday, Burns was already thin and frail as he travelled last March from his home near Tampa, Fla., to southeastern Quebec for the announcement that the Pat Burns Arena would be built at Stanstead College and open in 2011.
“I probably won’t see the project to the end, but let’s hope I’m looking down on it and see a young Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux” skating on the rink, he said at a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. “I know my life is nearing its end and I accept that. As for my career, I always said to my kids, ’you don’t cry because it’s over, you’re happy because it happened.’ That’s the main thing. I’m happy it happened.”
Burns was the youngest of six children born into a working-class family in the St-Henri district near the old Montreal Forum. His father died when he was a boy and he moved with his mother and stepfather to Gatineau, Que.
He said later the Stanley Cup was the crowning achievement of his career.
In 1,019 games as an NHL head coach, his teams won 501 games, lost 353, tied 151 and lost 14 in overtime. In 149 playoff games, his teams won 78 and lost 71.
He is survived by his wife, a son, and a daughter.