This Day in Hockey History – March 1, 1970 – Burns the Candle at Both Ends

Mar 1, 2020

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For a sport that began with players serving as coaches, today the thought of an NHL player doing double duty as coach seems overwhelming. The last true player-coach in the NHL was Charlie Burns of the Minnesota North Stars. When he was promoted to assistant coach on December 28, 1969, he temporarily retired as a player to focus on bench duties. After nearly setting a record for longest winless streak, Burns put his skates back on March 1, 1970 and led from both the bench and the ice for the rest of the season.

Charlie Burns was born in Detroit on Valentine’s Day in 1936. When he got his start (with the Detroit Red Wings no less) in 1959, he was the only American-born player. However, he grew up in Toronto and became a Canadian citizen at the age of 21. Just before joining the NHL, Burns played for the Whitby Dunlops when they won the World Championship. They were coached by founder and general manager Wren Blair, who (in 1967) became the first coach and general manager for the Minnesota North Stars.

In the NHL, the forward was popular in Intra-League Drafts. Burns was chosen by the Boston Bruins in 1959, by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1968, and finally by Minnesota in 1969. In between, Burns spent most of the 1960s playing for the San Francisco Seals of the Western Hockey League and then made the transition with them to the NHL as the Oakland Seals. He spent time as a player-coach for the Seals during the 1965-66 and 1966-67 seasons.

Burns had been on Blair’s radar since their 1958 championship, and Blair had been trying to get him since he was put in charge of the new Minnesota franchise. The summer Blair finally had the chance to draft Burns, the North Stars tried to hire Punch Imlach (recently fired by Toronto) as coach. That November, Bernie Geoffrion (recently having coached the New York Rangers) turned down the job. Blair told the press, “When Geoffrion turned the job down, I started talking to Burns. Charlie has experience (he was player-coach at San Francisco for two years). When we drafted him this summer from Pittsburgh, I had this in the back of my mind.”

By late December, Blair was feeling the strain from having to coach and serve as general manager at the same time. He announced that he was stepping away from the bench for at least three to four weeks, explaining, “I’m so tired now that I’m not effective on the bench. A fresh approach might spur the team.” The team physician, Dr. Frank Sidell, confirmed, “Wren has been under too heavy a work load for a long time. In the interest of his health I’ve insisted he lighten his load, at least temporarily.”

To hold down the fort while Blair focused on general managing, Burns was named assistant coach. Blair clarified, “I’m taking a reprieve from the bench for three or four weeks. This doesn’t mean Burns is our permanent coach, although he could be (in the future). We’ll review the situation in a couple weeks. If the team is going well, we’ll leave things as they are. If I do return, Charlie still will be the assistant coach.” Even if he decided not to stick with Burns, Blair planned to hire a full-time coach before the 1970-71 season.

As of taking over coaching duties with a practice on December 29 and game on December 30, Burns planned to temporarily retire from skating. He told the press, “Doing two jobs like that was tough enough in the minor leagues.” Continuing, he said, “I really don’t know if I’m ready to call it quits as a player in the NHL. We’ll have to see how this new arrangement works out. I do know that I’m ready to try coaching in this league. I consider this a fine hockey club. We have got some problems, but then what team doesn’t.” He concluded with the comment, “It is a great opportunity, and now I must give it my best shot.”

To say that things did not go as well as planned would be putting it mildly. From mid-January through the end of February, the North Stars could not scrape together a single victory. They lost or tied 20 games straight, coming within a game of matching the record for longest winless streak. To this day, only six teams have had longer. The 6-2 loss in Philadelphia on February 28th was the last straw.

The North Stars did not return to Minnesota until 4 am the following morning and had to prepare for a Sunday matinee against the Toronto Maple Leafs (who also arrived late in the night). In that short span, Burns made the decision to return to the ice. “Basically, we were playing worse and worse. I talked it over with Wren Blair (general manager) and Walter Bush (president) and they both agreed it was okay if I felt I could help the team. It’s not easy playing and coaching. If I can just give the team 30 seconds of help per game it’s worth it.” He also remarked, “I figured I had nothing to lose by suiting up. If we had lost, well, we’ve lost plenty of them before. I thought I could help the club on the ice here and there, killing penalties and taking an occasional shift.” The team captain, Claude Larose, noted, “We were all a little surprised at Charlie dressing, but I think probably it shook us up a little.” With that, Burns became the first playing-coach since Doug Harvey of the New York Rangers back in 1961-62.

The crowd of 14,456 at the Metropolitan Sports Center had the joy of watching the positive impact Burns had on their team. By putting himself as wing for Lou Nanne at center, the Stars had four lines going, keeping all of them more rested. Their opponents only had three. Having played every shift with his line (and killing three penalties), Burns admitted, “I was a little tired a couple of times. But I kept the shifts short. I’ll play as long as I figure it will help the club, although in the long run I’d rather just be a bench coach.”

With Burns’ help, the North Stars shutout the Leafs 8-0. It was Cesare Maniago’s first shutout since the opening game back in October. The proud player-coach commented, “Cesare was great. He made the big saves, the ones that kept us in. Then we’d go down and get another goal.” One of the goal-getters, Bill Goldsworthy was stunned by their overnight success, saying, “I’ll never know how things can turn around like that in one day.”

They even ended the game with a “lively brawl” which “resulted in 11 penalties.” Burns took that lightly, “We’ll get a few $100 tags from the league for leaving the bench. But when you’re winning, it’s worth it.” More importantly, he stated, “We proved today that there isn’t any reason in the world why this team shouldn’t be at least third and maybe second in our division. Now that we’ve broken this slump, maybe we can keep going.”

Burns’ prediction was pretty spot on. They went 9-5-4 for the final push, finishing third in the West Division. Having made the playoffs, they lost to the St. Louis Blues in the first round.

In June, Blair finally settled the coaching issue. On June 4, he announced that instead of continuing to coach, Burns had accepted a two-year player’s contract and would receive a permanent job in the organization in 1972. According to Blair, “There were many factors involved in this decision, and it was a difficult one to make. One of the reasons was Charlie’s own value as a player. We are going to lose three players next week in the expansion, plus a fourth in the deal for Judes Drouin. If Charlie were to return as coach, his retirement would cost us another player, and we just can’t afford that. Charlie did a fine job for us last seasons, under some trying conditions. He came right out of the ranks as a player, for one thing, and had no experience as an NHL coach. It is our feeling that the North Stars would profit more with an older, more experienced coach, and we are going to obtain such a man.”

Burns seemed resigned when he responded, “I was prepared for the news, and I have no complaints. They gave me a good deal. Now I hope they can get me through the draft some way, and when I report to camp next fall I’ll be just another player. At least I had the opportunity to coach an NHL team. I’ll mark it down as a good experience.” Although he had not been on the original list of 15 protected players, Blair added 34-year-old Burns to the list of 18 players to be protected from the draft.

On June 8, the North Stars held a press conference at Montreal. Blair announced that 42-year-old Jack Gordon had signed a three-year contract to coach the team. Gordon had spent the past two years as coach and general manager of the Cleveland Barons in the AHL. In the hopes that Cleveland would receive an NHL franchise, he had resisted Blair’s recruitment for almost two years .

Gordon did not expect to have any problem coaching Burns. “I know Charlie. He’s a man. As a matter of fact, I may be leaning on him for a little help myself.” Coach Gordon and player Burns remained together in Minnesota until the latter went down to the AHL in 1973. During the 1974-75 season, after Gordon led the team through a 11-22-5 record, Burns took over coaching duties. He finished the season with a 12-28-2 record putting Minnesota in fourth place in the Smythe Division and out of the playoffs. That marked the end of Burns’s time behind an NHL bench.

Additional Sources:

“Stars Draft Vet, 2 From Minors,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 12 June 1969, pp. 31-32.
Mike Lamey, “Burns to handle Stars’ bench,” Minneapolis Star, 29 Dec. 1969, p. 9C.
Dan Stoneking, “Burns No. 25 in musical chairs,” Minneapolis Star, 29 Dec. 1969, p. 10C.
Dwayne Netland, “After 20 Failures, North Stars Win,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2 March 1970, pp. 21-22.
Sid Hartman and “North Stars Perked Up With Two ‘New’ Players,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2 March 1970, p. 22.
Dwayne Netland, “Burns Signs to Play, Not Coach,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5 June 1970, pp. 25 and 29.
Mike Lamey, “Gordon new Star coach” and “Stars to save 18 in draft” Minneapolis Star, 9 June 1970, pp. 1D and 4D.
“Stars End Long Hunt for Coach” and “Stars Acquire from Montreal,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 10 June 1970, pp. 27 and 30.
https://www.nhl.com/player/charlie-burns-8445289
https://www.hockey-reference.com/coaches/burnsch01c.html
https://records.nhl.com/records/team-records/winless-streaks/longest-winless-streak-one-season