Pat Burns was not amused.
When La Presse reported today that Burns is once again battling cancer, the story created the impression in the minds of many that a) this came as some sort of revelation to him and everyone else; and, b) he is so ill that he's not able to carry on in everyday life.
"I guess I just want people to know that I'm living a good life right now and carrying on with my life," Burns told TSN. "I am living in Florida, I'm playing golf, I'm going and scouting hockey games for the New Jersey Devils, I'm still working and doing my radio stuff in Montreal and I'm riding my motorcycle down here and enjoying life. People read a story like that and they think the worse right away. I don't want people to have the wrong picture of me right now."
The La Presse story was accurate insofar as Burns is battling cancer for the third time in his life and those who know him were aware of that after the World Championship last spring in Halifax and Quebec City, where Burns was a member of the Team Canada coaching staff. Burns made a decision at that time that he would not undergo any further chemotherapy in an attempt to battle the disease. He said he is doing "other" things to fight it as best as he.
What's clear, though, is that Burns is most interested now in his quality of life, above and beyond all else, and didn't want to sacrifice any of that for the terrible rigors of chemotherapy.
And he's at peace with that decision that he made last year, but that doesn't mean he liked reading a story about it like it was breaking news in a Montreal newspaper today.
And that is just one reason, amongst many, why so many of us in the hockey community think the world of Pat Burns.