#57 You can learn a great deal from someone you've never met

I've never met the man. I couldn't even tell you the details of his coaching stats. I do know he was the first NHL hockey coach who's name and face I knew. Watching my first Montreal Canadians game years ago with my father, Pat Burns stood out. Beyond his antics behind the bench, I quickly learned he was one of us: Montreal born and raised. He even had a career as a police officer, just like my father. No wonder the face stuck.

Now years later I cry for a man I've never met. A man who seemed to stare death in the face with more courage and grace than I ever could. Although he never lived to see his name inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, I hope he left us knowing he was a winner in many of our hearts. '

'You don't cry because it's over, you're happy because it happened." - Pat Burns, 1952-2010

Photo credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Shaney Komulainen

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