Charlie Burns

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
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. Burns chose Canadian citizenship when he turned 21 and later played for the 1958 world champion Whitby Dunlops.

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. Burns died in Wallingford, Connecticut, on November 5, 2021, at the age of 85.