Pat Burns
A tough, mustachioed cop turned coach who won everywhere he went, claiming a Stanley Cup after surviving multiple battles with cancer.
1952–2010 (age 58)·Canadian ice hockey coach·Birthday: April 4·Baby Boomers
Biography
Pat Burns looked like he was carved from a block of granite, with a stare that could freeze a puck. His path to the NHL bench was unconventional, moving from a career as a police officer in Gatineau to coaching major junior hockey. He broke into the league with the Montreal Canadiens in 1988 and immediately stamped his identity: demanding, defensive, and fiercely loyal. He took the Habs to the Stanley Cup Final in his first year, winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year—an honor he would win a record three times with three different teams. He brought respectability to Toronto, structure to Boston, and finally, in New Jersey, the ultimate prize: the 2003 Stanley Cup. His coaching was a reflection of his personality—no-nonsense, honest, and intensely competitive. After retiring in 2005 following a cancer diagnosis, he fought the disease publicly with the same grit he showed behind the bench. The hockey world's prolonged campaign to see him inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame was fulfilled, poignantly, just months after his death.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Pat was born in 1952, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Pat Was Born
The biggest hits of 1952
#1 Movie
The Greatest Show on Earth
Best Picture
The Greatest Show on Earth
#1 TV Show
I Love Lucy
Pat's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1952Born
Queen Elizabeth II ascends the throne
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,350Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Harry S. Truman"Blue Tango" — Leroy AndersonBest Picture: The Greatest Show on Earth
1957Started school
Sputnik launches the Space Age
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $10,550Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"All Shook Up" — Elvis PresleyBest Picture: The Bridge on the River Kwai
1965Became a teenager
US sends combat troops to Vietnam
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,600Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" — The Rolling StonesBest Picture: The Sound of Music
1968Could drive
Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy assassinated
Gas: $0.34/galHome: $14,950Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Hey Jude" — The BeatlesBest Picture: Oliver!
1970Could vote
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1973Turned 21
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1982Turned 30
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1992Turned 40
LA riots after Rodney King verdict
Gas: $1.13/galHome: $84,300Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"End of the Road" — Boyz II MenBest Picture: Unforgiven
2002Turned 50
Euro currency enters circulation
Gas: $1.36/galHome: $137,800Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"How You Remind Me" — NickelbackBest Picture: Chicago
2010Died at 58
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
Key Achievements
- Won the Stanley Cup in 2003 as head coach of the New Jersey Devils.
- Is the only coach to win the Jack Adams Award (NHL Coach of the Year) three times, doing so with three different teams (Montreal, Toronto, Boston).
- Coached over 1,000 NHL games, reaching the playoffs in 11 of his 14 full seasons.
- Was posthumously inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the Builder category in 2014.
Did You Know?
He worked as a police officer in Gatineau, Quebec, for over seven years before becoming a full-time hockey coach.
He was a scout for the New Jersey Devils after his retirement from coaching.
The outdoor hockey rink in his hometown of Stanstead, Quebec, is named the Pat Burns Arena.
All three of his Jack Adams Awards were won in his first season with each respective team.
“I'm not behind the bench, but I'm still coaching. I'm coaching my life right now.”
