Former NHL coach Pat Burns, stricken with terminal lung cancer, has been admitted to hospital in Florida, according to reports.
Burns was hospitalized outside Tampa, Fla., on Sunday - his 58th birthday - according to Montreal sports radio station CKAC.
“As your life gets closer to the end, you realize that your body gets weaker, you mind works harder but your heart gets softer. You get closer to family, you get closer to God, and there are things that you realize along the way.
“I probably won’t see the final project,” Burns told guests at the gathering, including former colleagues, players and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“But I know one thing, is that when I’m looking down, j’espère que je vais regarder et voir un jeune Mario Lemieux ou Wayne Gretzky apparaître (I hope I will see a young Mario Lemieux or Wayne Gretzky appear).”