Former Leaf Coach Pat Burns Battling Lung Cancer
Posted January 21, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He has battled every team in the NHL and lived to tell the tale. But now former Leaf coach Pat Burns is facing yet another dangerous foe and defeating this enemy won’t be quite so easy.
Burns has confirmed he’s battling lung cancer, an often fatal disease that’s tough to treat. And it’s a deadly game the 56-year-old has played too often in the past.
Burns recovered from colon cancer after the 2003-04 season and missed the lockout while he was fighting the ailment.
He returned to the league triumphant, only to face another blow when he developed liver cancer.
But Burns was a fighter and beat that enemy off, too.
Now the man who led the Devils to the Cup in 2002-03 and stood behind the bench for the Leafs, the Canadiens and the Bruins, is wondering if it’s possible to notch a third victory.
But it won’t be easy. Burns underwent chemotherapy in his previous two bouts with the disease, but has decided not to opt for that treatment this time around.
He claims he hasn’t given up and wants to fight the ailment in a different way.
Burns was a popular coach when he was with the Leafs. He never led them to a Stanley Cup, of course, but he did manage to continually reward long suffering Toronto fans with three playoff appearances in a row.
The Buds made it to the third round in the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons, before losing in the first round in 1994-95. He was fired the next year, before being hired by Boston and facing his ultimate triumph with New Jersey.
He boasts a career record of 501 wins, 350 losses and 161 ties.
But aside from his Stanley Cup success, his biggest win came in beating cancer twice before.
He’s hoping there’s still one more victory left in the fight against that opponent.
Photo credit: Al Bello/Getty Images
