STANSTEAD, Quebec (AP) -A thin and frail Pat Burns says he’s honored to have an arena named after him, even as he concedes he likely won’t live to see it completed.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended an announcement Friday that the Pat Burns Arena will be built in Stanstead, a town near the Quebec-Vermont border. The former NHL coach, his voice left raspy by the cancer attacking his lungs, flew up from his home in Florida for the ceremony.
Burns was forced to leave coaching in 2004 because colon cancer. When he was diagnosed with lung cancer last year, he opted against treatment. He told a few dozen invited guests at Stanstead College: “I know my life is nearing the end and I accept that.” He said he’ll be looking down on the arena once it’s completed.
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