Pat Burns
| Pat Burns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 2014 (Builder) | |||
| Born |
April 4, 1952 Montreal, QC, CAN |
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| Died | November 19, 2010 (aged 58) Sherbrooke, QC, CAN |
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| Playing career | 1988–2005 | ||
Patrick John Joseph Burns (April 4, 1952 – November 19, 2010) was a National Hockey League head coach. Over 14 seasons between 1988 and 2004, he coached in 1,019 games with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, and New Jersey Devils. Burns retired in 2005 after being diagnosed with recurring cancer, which eventually claimed his life five years later.
In 2014, he was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
As a child, Burns had always wanted to play on a NHL team, and win the Stanley Cup. Once he realized he didn't possess the skill set to make it professional, Burns became a police officer. He had also worked part time as a scout for the Hull Olympiques of the QMJHL. He would later take on the role as assistant coach in 1984. He eventually worked his way through the ranks, and would become the team's head coach, after owner Wayne Gretzky and general manager Charles Henry decided he'd be the best fit. During his time with the Olympiques, he would coach future Hockey Hall of Fame member Luc Robitaille. Before the start of the 87-88 NHL season, Canadiens GM Serge Savard approached Burns and offered him the head coach position for the Sherbrooke Canadiens of the American Hockey League. He held the position for one year before being offered a new job, head coach of the Montreal Canadiens.
The Canadiens would finish the season with a division winning 53-18-9, and would make it to the Stanley Cup finals, losing in six games to the Calgary Flames. Burns would win the Jack Adams Award for best coach of the year, as a rookie. It was his first of three wins. He would lead Montreal to the second round of the playoffs in every year as head coach, before making a shocking resignation at the end of the 1992 season, citing his frustration with the media.
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