Charlie Burns

 ( 1936 Births ) 

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.

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Playing career 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. Shorthanded: The Untold Story of the Seals: Hockey's Most Colorful Team (p. 47), by Brad Kurzberg, AuthorHouse (2006), Burns chose Canadian citizenship when he turned 21 "Sport: The Pappy Line". Time. March 2, 1959. and later played for the 1958 world champion Whitby Dunlops.

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Post-playing career 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.Kurzberg, p.48 Burns died in Wallingford, Connecticut, on November 5, 2021, at the age of 85. Charles F. Burns

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Career statistics

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Regular season and playoffs

1952–53	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	17	—
1953–54	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	45	—
1954–55	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	0	—
1955–56	Toronto Marlboros	OHA	0	—
1956–57	Whitby Dunlops	OHA Sr	29	—
1957–58	Whitby Dunlops	OHA Sr	32	—
1958–59	Detroit Red Wings	NHL	32	—
1959–60	Boston Bruins	NHL	46	—
1960–61	Boston Bruins	NHL	16	—
1960–61	Kingston Frontenacs	EPHL	4	—
1961–62	Boston Bruins	NHL	43	—
1962–63	Boston Bruins	NHL	13	—
1963–64	San Francisco Seals	WHL	27	2
1964–65	San Francisco Seals	WHL	19	—
1965–66	San Francisco Seals	WHL	26	0
1966–67	California Seals	WHL	29	9
1967–68	Oakland Seals	NHL	20	—
1968–69	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL	22	—
1969–70	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	10	2
1970–71	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	13	2
1971–72	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	24	2
1972–73	Minnesota North Stars	NHL	13	0
1973–74	New Haven Nighthawks	AHL	73	16

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Coaching record

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Further reading

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External links

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