Coach Burns battling cancer...again.

[MadDevil]

Burns begins new battle against cancer

TSN.ca Staff
7/7/2005 10:12:49 AM

Pat Burns is battling cancer -- again.

The New Jersey Devils' head coach was declared cancer free by doctors in April -- after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer last year -- but sources tell TSN a routine blood test in May showed Burns now has a different form of cancer.

Burns, who had been living in Florida, returned to New Jersey last week and underwent surgery in a hospital there for the removal of the cancer. A source close to Burns said the former cop turned NHL coach will now spend some time at his home in New Hampshire and get a new round of chemotherapy treatment in Boston over the course of the summer.

"Pat wants everyone in hockey to know he's still alive and well and while this is a setback, he's strong, he's fit and he's going to fight this and win," a source close to Burns told TSN. "His spirits are good and he's confident. Lou Lamoriello and the New Jersey Devils have been fantastic through all of this. Lou has been right there with Pat every step of the way."


Link (http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=129824)

I hope he gets better soon, the Devils have had enough bad news the last few months.

[KB in Kelowna]

Best wished to Pat and I hope he keeps fighting the good fight.

[Madferret]

Ex Gatineau Cops are tough sons of b!tches...Burns will pull through.

[Mel]

More from ESPN http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2103884

New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello confirmed to ESPN The Magazine's E.J. Hradek on Friday that when the NHL resumes playing, Pat Burns will not return as coach because of health concerns.

Sources told TSN of Canada and the Toronto Sun that Burns -- who had been declared cancer-free by doctors in April after undergoing surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer last year -- now has a different form of cancer that was revealed in a routine blood test in May.

The Devils, in looking for a new coach, have the most obvious and likely replacement already at hand -- former Devils head coach Larry Robinson, who served from March 2000 to January 2002 and won a Stanley Cup as a midseason replacement coach in 2000. Robinson is currently on the Devils' staff as a special assignment coach.

Burns, who had been living in Florida, returned to New Jersey last week and underwent surgery in a hospital there for the removal of the cancer. A source close to Burns said he will get a new round of chemotherapy treatment in Boston over the course of the summer.

Best of luck Pat Burns. Fight the good fight and try to beat that SOB. I have a good friend now dying of cancer. (as I'm sure we all have or had at some point). Bless the day when they find an easy cure. :(

a "round of chemotherapy" is like a round of torture. It kills you. My friend went in to begin her second 6 week round yesterday. Another friend who went through it... I saw him last weekend and he says if they try to do it again he will not go through it (granted he's much older than my other friend). That's how awful it is. Here's wishing the best to Pat Burns.

[TimmyTabasco]

As I mentioned before..perhaps..Babcock to coach?

He seems the perfect mold for the devils

[SouthernCharm]

Too bad Babcock is headed for Detroit.

[MadDevil]

Robinson to coach Devils

Canadian Press
7/14/2005 2:17:15 PM

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (CP) - The New Jersey Devils will have a familiar face behind the bench this season after naming Larry Robinson their new head coach Thursday.
Robinson led New Jersey to the Stanley Cup in 2000 then took the team back to the final in 2001. He was fired as head coach in January of the following season.

Robinson, a Hall of Fame defenceman who had been working as a "special assignment coach" for the Devils, would have coached the team had there been a season, general manager Lou Lamoriello said Thursday.

"Certainly he knows our younger players as well as anybody because we had him working in Albany (AHL) and also our veterans," Lamoriello said. "Both groups have tremendous respect for him."

Other teams had come calling over the last few years but Robinson wanted to stay with the Devils.

"Because New Jersey gave me my start (as an assistant coach in 1993-94)," Robinson said Thursday. "I had a lot of success with New Jersey, I know the organization, I have a lot of confidence in Lou and what he's done for me and that's why this was the right combination."

Robinson takes over from Pat Burns, who is battling cancer and stepped down as coach last week. Burns, a three-time NHL coach of the year, had surgery earlier this month and was expected to undergo chemotherapy.

The 53-year-old Burns had surgery and chemotherapy for colon cancer following the 2003-04 season. His treatment would have prevented him from coaching in 2004-05, but a lockout forced the cancellation of the season.

The NHL and the NHL Players' Association reached a tentative agreement Wednesday. It still needs to be ratified.


Link (http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=130338)

Looks like the coaching situation has been solved. Not surprising they picked Robinson, he's been a "special assignments" coach for the Devils the past few years, and knows the sytem well.