Charlie Burns

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Charlie Burns
Born (1936-02-14)February 14, 1936
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died November 5, 2021(2021-11-05) (aged 85)
Wallingford, Connecticut, U.S.
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight 170 lb (77 kg; 12 st 2 lb)
Position Center
Shot Left
Played for Detroit Red Wings
Boston Bruins
Oakland Seals
Pittsburgh Penguins
Minnesota North Stars
National team  Canada
Playing career 1952–1974
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing  Canada
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1958 Oslo

Charles Frederick Burns (February 14, 1936 – November 5, 2021) was an American-born Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 749 games in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Oakland Seals, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Minnesota North Stars between 1958 and 1973. He later worked as the head coach of Minnesota in both 1970 and 1974–75. Burns was mainly known for being an excellent skater, playmaker and defensive player who performed checking and penalty-killing. His trademark was the heavily padded helmet that he was forced to wear after suffering a serious head injury while playing junior hockey in 1954–55.

Playing career[edit]

In 1959, he was the only US-born player in the NHL. Burns was born in Detroit, Michigan, his family moved to Toronto, Ontario, when he was a child.[1] Burns chose Canadian citizenship when he turned 21[2] and later played for the 1958 world champion Whitby Dunlops.

Post-playing career[edit]

Burns had three spells as a player-coach, twice with the San Francisco Seals (1965–66 and 1966–67) and one with the Minnesota North Stars (1969–70). He coached the North Stars again in 1974–75 upon his active career retirement. Curiously, all of these were midseason assignments. He coached youth hockey for the Wallingford Hawks of Wallingford, Connecticut, in his spare time.[3] Burns died in Wallingford, Connecticut, on November 5, 2021, at the age of 85.[4]

Career statistics[edit]

Regular season and playoffs[edit]

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1952–53 Toronto Marlboros OHA 33 5 7 12 17
1953–54 Toronto Marlboros OHA 59 17 14 31 45
1954–55 Toronto Marlboros OHA 3 0 0 0 0
1955–56 Toronto Marlboros OHA 20 5 8 13 0
1956–57 Whitby Dunlops OHA Sr 40 16 25 41 29
1957–58 Whitby Dunlops OHA Sr 31 24 28 52 32
1958–59 Detroit Red Wings NHL 70 9 11 20 32
1959–60 Boston Bruins NHL 62 10 17 27 46
1960–61 Boston Bruins NHL 62 15 26 41 16
1960–61 Kingston Frontenacs EPHL 8 3 6 9 4
1961–62 Boston Bruins NHL 70 11 17 28 43
1962–63 Boston Bruins NHL 68 12 10 22 13
1963–64 San Francisco Seals WHL 68 33 36 69 27 11 1 3 4 2
1964–65 San Francisco Seals WHL 51 27 36 63 19
1965–66 San Francisco Seals WHL 40 10 35 45 26 7 1 5 6 0
1966–67 California Seals WHL 71 22 38 60 29 6 0 0 0 9
1967–68 Oakland Seals NHL 73 9 26 35 20
1968–69 Pittsburgh Penguins NHL 76 13 38 51 22
1969–70 Minnesota North Stars NHL 50 3 13 16 10 6 1 0 1 2
1970–71 Minnesota North Stars NHL 76 9 19 28 13 12 3 3 6 2
1971–72 Minnesota North Stars NHL 77 11 14 25 24 7 1 1 2 2
1972–73 Minnesota North Stars NHL 65 4 7 11 13 6 0 0 0 0
1973–74 New Haven Nighthawks AHL 64 10 19 29 73 10 1 3 4 16
NHL Totals 749 106 198 304 252 31 5 4 9 6

Coaching record[edit]

Team Year Regular season Post season
G W L T Pct Finish G W L Result
Minnesota North Stars 1969–70 44 10 22 12 0.364 3rd in West 6 2 4 Lost in quarter-finals
Minnesota North Stars 1974–75 42 12 28 2 0.310 4th in Smythe Did not qualify
NHL totals 86 22 50 14 .204 6 2 4 1 playoff appearance

References[edit]

  1. ^ Shorthanded: The Untold Story of the Seals: Hockey's Most Colorful Team (p. 47), by Brad Kurzberg, AuthorHouse (2006), ISBN 1425910289
  2. ^ "Sport: The Pappy Line". Time. March 2, 1959.
  3. ^ Kurzberg, p.48
  4. ^ Charles F. Burns

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Wren Blair
Jack Gordon
Head coach of the Minnesota North Stars
1969–70
1975
Succeeded by