Former Bruins Head Coach Pat Burns Elected To Hockey Hall Of Fame
Jun 11, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Bruins president Cam Neely is interviewed during media day in preparation for game one of the 2013 Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Every year the Hockey Hall of Fame inducts members who they believe have seriously contributed to hockey. Many of them are players, but coaches, owners, referees, and the occasional broadcaster find their way to be enshrined there. This year the HHOF have inducted five members into the Class of 2014. The Hall of Fame selected defenseman Rob Blake, centers Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano, goalie Dominik Hasek , referee and former Boston Bruins head coach Pat Burns. Burns coached the Bruins during 1997 – 2000 seasons. He won the Jack Adams Award in 1998 with Boston. Like current coach Claude Julien, Burns was one of those coaches that had the rare opportunity to coach both the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. Burns lost his battle with cancer in 2010, and had been the victim of several snubs by the selection committee before finally earning the honor posthumously.
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Bruins President Cam Neely offered his sincerest congratulations to Burns’ family in a statement released by the Bruins organization yesterday afternoon. “On behalf of the Boston Bruins I would like to congratulate the family of Pat Burns on his election into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Pat had an outstanding career in hockey, and we are very happy to see him rewarded with this great honor.”
While this year’s selection had a Bruins flavor to it, an important player in recent history who wasn’t selected for this year’s class also had a black and gold finish to their hockey resume’.
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Mark Recchi was snubbed this year by the committee. The former right winger won three Stanley Cups(his last one with the Bruins back in 2011) during his NHL career. Recchi’s statistics are certainly Hall Of Fame worthy. He earned 577 goals (19th all-time) and 1,533 points (12th all-time) during his career in the NHL. He was one of those players that brought steady leadership (and certainly had a hand in shaping a young Brad Marchand and Tyler Seguin during that Cup winning season) to the Bruins. While he was never going to be a Jaromir Jagr type player, he was constant, reliable, and consistent. Hopefully, the committee will see that when they select their class for 2015.