I’ve been a fan of the Canadiens for as long as I can remember but I couldn’t tell you who any of the coaches in the 1980′s were for the team before Pat Burns stepped on the scene. When he was selected to replace the recently departed Jean Perron, I remember hearing a lot of people that followed the game were wondering if it was sort of a desperation move. Burns was pretty young for a head coach of an NHL team at the time, and outside of one amazing season with the Hull Olympique, his record was pretty pedestrian. Plus Perron, who had manned the club to what would turn out to be their only Cup of the decade, had just left to take over the coaching duties of the cross province Quebec Nordiques, a sin almost as heinous as leaving for the Maple Leafs. Living right in the middle of Leaf country at the time, it was great to have a coach that showed such fire, such passion. Knowing that he would find ways to motivate his players to play with that same passion and win by any means necessary. The contrast between that and Tom Watt at the time was like each of those coaches were on the wrong team, like their persona fit the other squad. For myself watching at home at the time, watching the Habs run to two wins from another Cup to add to the trophy case and becoming a force in the league, it was the zenith of my fandom of the team.
A few years and one Jack Adams trophy later, a lot of people in Habs Nation were shocked to hear that Pat Burns had left the Habs for the worst team that he could have picked; the Toronto Maple Leafs. Like the kid that had received a Maple Leafs sweater from Mousier Eaton, seeing Burns behind the Leafs bench in Maple Leaf Gardens, with the faded orange concrete behind him was like seeing Wayne Gretzky in LA black and silver, or the Jets in the middle of the desert. But unlike the other examples given, I actually found myself….respecting…the leafs, something that has a Habs fan is damn hard to say. Burns had brought his style of inspirational, intellectual coaching to a team that fit it almost like a glove. A leafs team that had heart, talent, leadership, and with our former pilot at the helm were the best team the gardens would have as tenants since the Leafs Golden Age. Recently Doug[ie] Gilmour put it best, saying…
“It all started with Pat,” … “I don’t really understand what it was about him, but he’d just stare and I knew he was saying I had to be better.”
That’s why when friends asked if they were in trouble with this guy behind the helm, I first doubted their sanity (they rather have Tom Watt over this guy? really?), but I replied that for the first time that I can ever remember, they could look forward to rooting for a good team.
Even in practice, "The Stare" gets a good workout.
And like he did with Montreal, he was able to take the Leafs and have them deliver what is their best season since 1967, only missing out on breaking their Stanley Cup appearance drought by the incompetency of one Kerry Fraser. As a Habs fan that was watching my own team making a miracle run of their own, it made it much easier to root for my guys to crush the team that it seemed everyone outside of the league office wanted to lose. But if I was given the chance to ever decide on rewriting that slice of history, I would without hesitation want Burns’s Leafs there instead of the Kings.
His time in Toronto would last for the same amount as it did in Montreal, albeit not by his choosing. The club would fire him late into his fourth season for reasons that looking back now completely elude me and many Leaf fans that I know, especially for what followed in his footsteps (yes I realize Leaf fans do like Pat Quinn, but he couldn’t hold Pat Burns moustache.). He would quickly land another gig with the Boston Bruins (what is it with the Bruins hiring ex-Canadiens coaches, are they trying to get some good mojo?), but while he’d net his third and final Jack Adams, he’d also have what could be considered his lowest point of his career. He would have his first season where a team that he coached wouldn’t make the playoffs, and his record with the Bruins would be barely above .500 for the four years that he was there. For myself, he had slipped off the radar of my hockey world, as the strike had me washing my hands of hockey, at least for a while (baseball on the other hand…). In fact it wasn’t until he had won the Stanley Cup he should have gotten with the Habs in ’89, or had the chance to win in ’93, that I “found” him again. While it sucked to see him win it with another team, I found that I was happy that he could finally enjoy being at the top of the hockey world, and hold what all of us that follow the sport would love to if we had the chance.
The last few years have been hard to watch, especially for anyone that has seen their loved ones succumb to that disease. I honestly expected that he would pull through, even when it was announced that cancer had moved onto his lungs. It was just what you expected of the guy, to always give 110% percent, never waver, never give in, and to stick it out to the end. Even when they erroneously announced that he had passed on a few months back, didn’t believe it for a second. “just some overeager reporter trying to get a scoop” I figured. He’ll be back on his feet soon enough.
Unfortunately, today the media finally got it right.
I can’t say that I know the man, or even to have ever met him. In fact, outside of sports highlights, youtube and Hockey Night In Canada I have no way to distinguish him from any other Pat Burns that exists on the planet. But yet when I read about the announcement of his passing, It hit me harder then I expected, like hearing that a friend that you hadn’t heard from in years had passed on, and it moved me to write this article this evening. One that wasn’t a vomiting of stats and figures, or to decry his omission of not being considered for the HHOF. To me this is not the time or place for that, but more to reflect on what his presence in my life meant to me. And at reaching the end of this article, I think I know why I will miss the guy. To me, he represented the way the NHL once was. When it had character, passion, heart, and honour. When sports in Canada, for a brief few years in the late 80′s/mid 90′s, was at the highest pinnacle we’ll see for a long time. When coaches didn’t sound like they were reading off teleprompters, and weren’t afraid to show that they were human. When the NHL, for all of its flaws of that era, had soul.
Yesterday, we lost a valued member of the hockey fraternity, and all of hockey is a little bit poorer for it.
EDIT: Thought for those that didn’t get to see the tribute video last night at the Toronto-Montreal game or on TV, they’d enjoy it here. I thought it was pretty fitting, and great work for this by the Canadiens organization.
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The owner of the Sports Blog Network, Chris tells it exactly as he sees it, be it in the stands, in front of the tv, or on his semi-trusty laptop. And always with a can of trusty Dr. Pepper by his side, and spell-check working overtime. 
Just found your article on reddit there. Glad to see that I’m not the only person that had fond memories of the man. As someone from the area that he grew up in, your assessment of his determination is very true. Folks in the area will miss him, he was one of the best.