Burns’ time in Hull paved the way to Hall of Fame
Years as a Hull cop taught toughness, communication
Good things come to those who wait. Unfortunately, Pat Burns couldn’t wait long enough to see himself inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In November 2010, age 58, Burns was called to a higher league, after fighting three forms of cancer for several years.
That spring, Burns was a sentimental favourite to get into the Hall — remember the ‘Let’s Get Pat Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame — NOW’ movement on Facebook? Great rivers run their course. Halls of fame march to their own drum, vetting sentiment from the discussion. This week, Burns finally received his due, his widow, Line, fighting through her emotions to find the words to say how proud Pat would be of this deserved honour.
In hockey circles, Burns was loved for his raw honesty, rare in today’s hockey-speak of “getting pucks deep” and “playing the system.” In his first year as an NHL coach, 1988-89, Burns had his Montreal Canadiens off to a terrific start and someone asked him about the possibility of being coach of the year. “I’d just like to be coach for a year,” Burns replied.
He did win the Jack Adams award that season, his first of three, all with different teams, an unprecedented feat.
In 2003, Burns led the New Jersey Devils to a Stanley Cup, a path that passed through Ottawa, as the Devils beat the Senators in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final.
Of course, Burns is better known here for cutting his teeth, literally at times, as a Hull police officer and then head coach of the Olympiques of the QMJHL.
Burns was 16 when his family moved to Gatineau from Montreal. By 19, he was a Hull cop, wondering why he was issued as many as a couple of dozen new shirts, until his shirt was ripped off his back during a scuffle on one of his first nights on the job.
No coach ever had a better learning ground than the tough, tough beat Burns worked on the Hull streets in the 1970s and ’80s. Over the years, he drew assignments — narcotics, biker gangs (and Pat loved recreational motorcycles) — that would make checking Wayne Gretzky seem a picnic by comparison, a thought not lost on Burns as he carried that perspective into his NHL career.
Domestic battles were the worst, Burns always said, because of the unexpected turns they could take. He got a lot of mileage out of one story of heading into a home one night after a woman complained that her husband was beating the heck out of her. As he rushed to her assistance, neutralizing the husband, she got upset that he was being too aggressive and clubbed Burns over the head with a frozen turkey.
In 1984 Charlie Henry, the legendary general manager of the Olympiques hired Burns as his head coach. Gretzky had just bought the Hull team and Henry decided a bold move was required.
He knew Burns as a tough cop, but also a demanding coach, as Henry had watched Burns direct bantam and midget kids, before becoming an assistant coach with the Olympiques.
Naturally, Burns favoured honest, hard-working players. Hardly an overnight sensation — the 1984-85 team finished 33-34-1 with a first-round playoff exit — Burns moulded the Olympiques into Quebec League champions in his second season. By then, Burns was confronting a decision: Leave the police or cut back on coaching.
Apparently, he made the right call. Certainly the criminal element in Hull was pleased to see him go. Just four years after his first junior gig as a head coach, Burns was back home in Montreal, coaching the bilingual Canadiens, the toughest coaching job in hockey and a love-hate affair for the straight-shooting Burns.
Each of his stops was eventful. Back-to-back conference final trips with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1993 and ‘94. Coaching a third Original Six team in Boston. Then, the crowning glory. The 2003 Cup with the Devils, while reaching the 1,000-games coached milestone (1,019) and 501 victories in 15 seasons.
Now, Burns the builder joins referee Bill McCreary and players Dominik Hasek, Peter Forsberg, Mike Modano and Rob Blake, a strong group.
When the announcement came down, I swear I heard from above the rev of a Harley Davidson.