Personal Life
Before his career in hockey, he was a police officer in Gatineau, Quebec.
Burns survived colon cancer in 2004 and liver cancer in 2005, retiring from coaching after the second diagnosis. In 2009, Burns acknowledged he had been diagnosed with cancer for a third time, this time lung cancer. The cancer was incurable and he decided to forgo further treatment. During an April 2010 interview Burns stated "I know my life is nearing its end and I accept that." Gesturing to a group of local minor hockey players, he said: "A young player could come from Stanstead who plays in an arena named after me. I probably won't see the project to the end, but let's hope I'm looking down on it and see a young Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux."
An arena is to be built to honour Burns' career, at Stanstead College, a private boarding school in the Eastern Townships, and be completed by 2011.
On March 26, 2010, a fan-based Facebook campaign was launched to get Burns inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on the merits of his coaching record, but before he succumbed to cancer. The Let's Get Pat Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame – NOW! Facebook group attracted over 39,000 members in its first week and received across Canada and the United States. In its second week the number of hockey fans calling for Burns' induction grew to over 54,000. As of October 22, 2010, that number was at 71,307. Nevertheless, the attempts to get Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame did not succeed as he was not selected for the 2010 class of inductees.
He was married to Line Burns.
Read more about this topic: Pat Burns
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