Pat Burns is not ready to quit his battle yet

"As your life gets closer to the end, you realize that your body gets weaker, you mind works harder but your heart gets softer. You get closer to family, you get closer to God, and there are things that you realize along the way.” -  Pat Burns March 26, 2010

As we all know, former Montreal Canadiens coach Pat burns is in his third battle with cancer. He announced in January of 2009 that he had incurable lung cancer. Burns had been treated for colon cancer in 2004 and liver cancer in 2005.

I recently talked to a contact, who had been in touch with the Burns family in recently, and got an update on his health.

Burns continues to battle the incurable disease, but by opting not to seek treatment his health is rapidly declining. “He’s not doing well,” I was told.

It’s also reported that the three-time Adams Trophy winner, and his wife Lynne, have also sold their home in New Hampshire and are spending the summer in Quebec. The Burns family spent the past winter in Tampa.

The fact that he was healthy enough to travel back to Canada could be a positive sign that his fight with cancer is far from over. “With that kind of mobility, it sounds like he's still got some time with us,” my source added.

Then again, is anyone surprised that Pat Burns was going to take this on without a fight?

Burns last public appearance was on March 26, for the arena naming ceremony in his hometown of Stanstead, Quebec. A frail Burns spoke with a weak voice, far from the bellowing one that got players and referees attention on the ice.

There was concern the end was indeed near back in April, when the  58-year-old was rushed to hospital with pneumonia. He was released a few days later.

A grass roots movement, and several of his former NHL colleagues pushed to get Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame this summer, before he passed away.

“Pat’s been stricken with a terrible disease,” said former coach Mike Keenan, when I spoke to him earlier this month. “It was an honest attempt, and a very nice gesture for other members of the Hall to bring up his name.”

Unfortunately their public calls did not factor in with the selection committee enough, leading to criticism of the Hall of Fame by fans and media alike.

Three days later, the NHL and his former teams (the Canadiens, the Boston Bruins, The Toronto Maple Leafs, and the New Jersey Devils) donated $50K to the construction of the Pat Burns Arena.

photo: Canadian Press

Habs video clips and autograph news

With all the Game Three activities, you may have missed a couple video clips along the way.

I’ll lead off with HNIC’s After Forty Minutes, that featured the great Dick Irvin.

Why they needed Don Cherry to eat up part of the segment is beyond me, as is the passing back and forth of the mic between him and Ron MacLean. Audio seems a bit weak off this YouTube clip, but just filter out the two bookends and enjoy the words of Mr. Irvin.

Habs Fans Unite!: From Tuesday pre-game, CTV’s Aphrodite Salas looks at Habs mania in downtown Montreal. It includes a chat with Annakin Slayd, who created “Feel’s Like ‘93.

Did you miss the OHL Final? : Incase you did, here’s a recap of the Windsor Spitfires four-game sweep of the Barrie Colts.

News for Habs Autograph Hounds

Spent your tax return yet? There’s a bunch of unique autograph opportunities for Habs fans coming up soon!

First is a pair of private signings, with Habs legends Patrick Roy and Jean Beliveau, courtesy of AJ Sportsworld. Prices start at $49 for Mr. Beliveau and $109 for St. Patrick. The deadline for these signings is May 22.

Toronto-based Frozen Pond has arranged a private signing with former Habs coach Pat Burns in early July. For more information, you can click on this link. Deadline is June

Don’t forget to join the Facebook Group to get Pat Burns into the Hockey Hall of Fame. 69,000 members and counting! Also see the Pat Burns Arena website

Vintage Burns with the Habs…

Here’s what he was pissed off about, in more detail. Nice how the Leafs coverage shows the light cross check from Savard on Clark, but the how Savard wound up in a heap in the corner was kept out.

For those in the Toronto area on May 15, a trio of Habs greats will be signing in Vaughan.

Guy Larose, Don Marshall and Ralph Backstrom will be appearing at Dave and Buster’s, courtesy of Saturday Night Heroes. Prices are $20 for basic items and $30 for premium per player. A great deal considering there’s 16 Stanley Cups between them!

If fans have a lead on other Habs signings or appearances, let me know with an email and I will spread the word.

Aug 8, 1992: John Kordic’s death was another for Club 27

On this day in 1992, police were called to the Motel Maxim in L'Ancienne-Lorette, Quebec.

Upon their arrival, nine police officers found pro hockey player John Kordic, apparently under the influence of cocaine, trashing a room in the motel.

The officers were forced to wrestle the enforcer to the ground to make an arrest.

An ambulance was called in as Kordic lost consciousness.

He subsequently died of heart failure and a collapsed lung due to lack of oxygen.

John Kordic was just 27 years old at the time of his death.

A coroner’s inquest was made due to the police involvement where Dr. Georges Miller found that no excessive force by police or incompetence on the part of the ambulance attendants resulted in his death. There was speculation that the ambulance workers did not administer oxygen soon enough.

Kordic had 0.1 milligrams of cocaine in his system, which according to to Dr. Miller, was the most cocaine he had ever seen in a person's blood in his twenty years of practice.

There was also speculation that Kordic was using steroids in training and that the mix of that along with cocaine and alcohol put him over the final brink.

Kordic’s drug and alcohol problems were no secret to NHL fans, with numerous suspensions and issues with teammates and coaches.

He was also awaiting a preliminary court hearing for an assault charge, filed by his fiancée Nancy Masse, scheduled for August 11.

Hockeydraftcentral.com has this write up on Kordic leading up to his death.

Kordic's coaches and teammates often accused him of being so selfish that he never worried about team concerns, and toward the end of his career, he was sent home from the minor leagues because he was said to be infecting young players with his bad attitude.

Nevertheless, it was a shock and a tragedy when Kordic's addiction finally brought about his death at age 27 in August 1992. In the two weeks before his life ended, Kordic knew he was in danger of drinking himself to death.

In late July 1992, he phoned James Fearing, his Minneapolis based addiction counselor, and asked Fearing to visit him in Quebec City, where he was preparing for a training-camp tryout with Edmonton.

While working out with his friend Tony Twist, Kordic began to worry that he was falling off the wagon, and he told Fearing that despite all of his efforts he did not think he could defeat his addiction.

Fearing agreed to come to Quebec in mid-August 1992, but that would prove to be too late

Kordic always had a reputation as a tough guy in hockey but was a winner in his early career.

After winning a Memorial Cup Championship with the Portland Winter Hawks in 1983, Kordic was drafted in the fourth round my the Montreal Canadiens.

He would contribute to the Sherbrooke Canadiens’ Calder Cup team in 1985 and appear in 18 playoff games for the NHL club during their 1986 Stanley Cup Championship.

Kordic would be traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the now famous Russ Courtnall deal in November 1988.

Having two seasons in Toronto later, he played just ten games for the Leafs and Washington Capitals in 1990-91 before being signed as a free agent in October 1991 by the Quebec Nordiques.

Kordic vs. Lynden Byers

Though lesser known on a worldwide level, Kordic’s death at age 27 puts him in a group of well known individuals who have lost their lives under bizarre or tragic circumstances.

Most notably are “Club 27” members made up of musicians the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Rolling Stone’s guitarist Brian Jones and blues pioneer Robert Johnson.

Amongst sports stars, ex-NFLer/soldier Pat Tillman is the most recent well known tragedy, followed by MLB pitcher Steve Olin and “own goal” soccer murder victim Andres Escobar.