James Patrick (ice hockey)

James Patrick (born June 14, 1963) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

James Patrick
Born	(1963-06-14) June 14, 1963 (age 61) Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Defence
Shot	Right
Played for	New York Rangers Hartford Whalers Calgary Flames Buffalo Sabres
National team	Canada
NHL draft	9th overall, 1981 New York Rangers
Playing career	1983–2006

Playing career

After a successful collegiate career at the University of North Dakota, Patrick represented Canada at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. After the Olympics, Patrick signed his first professional contract on March 5, 1984 with the New York Rangers, and made his NHL debut two days later in Minnesota. Patrick scored his first NHL goal on March 17, 1984, in Philadelphia. Patrick enjoyed ten productive seasons in New York before being traded to the Hartford Whalers and then to the Calgary Flames during the 1993–94 season.

After several years in Calgary, Patrick signed with the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent after the 1997–98 season. Though he was chosen to play in the 1987 Canada Cup and many other international events, Patrick was never selected to the NHL All Star game. He ranks high among defencemen in both all times game played (1280) and total points (639). Patrick set a record (since broken) for career games played by a Team Canada player with 40 career games, breaking the previous record of 37 games in 2002. On September 8, 2005, Patrick announced his retirement from the NHL at the age of 42. He was immediately named to the Sabres' staff as a skill development coach. However, he left the team before the season to play in Germany's Deutsche Eishockey Liga with the Frankfurt Lions.

Coaching career

Patrick joined the Buffalo Sabres as assistant coach in 2006. He made his debut as head coach in February 2012, when Lindy Ruff was incapable of coaching due to an injury. After Ruff was fired in February 2013, Patrick remained with the Sabres' coaching staff until the end of the season, and then was let go.^[1]

After the 2013 season he re-joined Ruff as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars. At the end of the 2016–17 regular season, Patrick was let go when the Stars elected not to renew Ruff's expiring contract, after the team missed the playoffs.^[2]

On June 6, 2017, it was announced that Patrick was named as the head coach for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League (WHL).^[3]

On November 6, 2023, Patrick was named the next head coach of the Victoria Royals, following the dismissal of Dan Price.^[4]

Personal life

Patrick is half Ukrainian and half English. His father, Stephen (born as Stepan Patrebka), was the child of Ukrainian immigrants from the Lviv region, and played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.^[5] Patrick is the brother of Steve and the uncle of former player Nolan Patrick.

In 2014, Patrick was charged with assault stemming from a domestic incident, while working as an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars.^[6]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1979–80	Notre Dame Hounds	SMHL		—	—	—	—	—		—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	Prince Albert Raiders	SJHL		59	21	61	82	162		—	—	—	—	—
1981–82	University of North Dakota	WCHA		42	5	24	29	26		—	—	—	—	—
1982–83	University of North Dakota	WCHA		36	12	36	48	29		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	Canadian National Team	Intl		63	7	24	31	52		—	—	—	—	—
1983–84	New York Rangers	NHL		12	1	7	8	2		5	0	3	3	2
1984–85	New York Rangers	NHL		75	8	28	36	71		3	0	0	0	4
1985–86	New York Rangers	NHL		75	14	29	43	88		16	1	5	6	34
1986–87	New York Rangers	NHL		78	10	45	55	62		6	1	2	3	2
1987–88	New York Rangers	NHL		70	17	45	62	52		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	New York Rangers	NHL		68	11	36	47	41		4	0	1	1	2
1989–90	New York Rangers	NHL		73	14	43	57	50		10	3	8	11	0
1990–91	New York Rangers	NHL		74	10	49	59	58		6	0	0	0	6
1991–92	New York Rangers	NHL		80	14	57	71	54		13	0	7	7	12
1992–93	New York Rangers	NHL		60	5	21	26	61		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	New York Rangers	NHL		6	0	3	3	2		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Hartford Whalers	NHL		47	8	20	28	32		—	—	—	—	—
1993–94	Calgary Flames	NHL		15	2	2	4	6		7	0	1	1	6
1994–95	Calgary Flames	NHL		43	0	10	10	14		5	0	1	1	0
1995–96	Calgary Flames	NHL		80	3	32	35	30		4	0	0	0	2
1996–97	Calgary Flames	NHL		19	3	1	4	6		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Calgary Flames	NHL		60	6	11	17	26		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		45	1	7	8	16		20	0	1	1	12
1999–00	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		66	5	8	13	22		5	0	1	1	2
2000–01	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		54	4	9	13	12		13	1	2	3	2
2001–02	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		56	5	8	13	16		—	—	—	—	—
2002–03	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		69	4	12	16	26		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Buffalo Sabres	NHL		55	4	7	11	12		—	—	—	—	—
2005–06	Frankfurt Lions	DEL		42	1	6	7	73		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1,280	149	490	639	759		117	6	32	38	86

International

Year	Team	Event		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1982	Canada	WJC		7	0	2	2	6
1983	Canada	WJC		7	0	2	2	4
1983	Canada	WC		9	1	1	2	10
1984	Canada	OLY		7	0	3	3	4
1987	Canada	WC		8	0	1	1	2
1987	Canada	CC		6	0	1	1	2
1989	Canada	WC		10	2	2	4	8
1998	Canada	WC		6	0	1	1	0
2002	Canada	WC		7	0	2	2	0
Junior totals				14	0	4	4	10
Senior totals				53	3	11	14	26

Coaching record

Team	Year	Regular season							Post season
		G	W	L	OTL	SL	Pts	Finish	Result
KOO	2017–18	72	27	38	5	2	61	4th in Central	Missed playoffs
KOO	2018–19	68	13	45	7	3	36	5th in Central	Missed playoffs
WPG	2019–20	63	38	24	1	0	77	2nd in East	Playoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
WPG	2020–21	24	18	5	1	0	37	no standings[a]	no playoffs[a]
WPG	2021–22	68	53	10	3	2	111	1st in East	Lost in East Final
WPG	2022–23	68	57	10	1	0	115	1st in East	Lost in WHL Final
KOO/WPG Totals		363	206	132	18	7	437
VIC	2023–24	52	21	23	3	4	(45)	4th in B.C.	Lost in first round
VIC Totals		52	21	23	4	4	45
WHL Totals		415	227	155	22	11	482

Awards and honours

Award	Year
All-WCHA Second Team	1981–82	[7]
All-NCAA All-Tournament Team	1982	[8]
All-WCHA First Team	1982–83	[7]
AHCA West All-American	1982–83	[9]

• Canadian Tier II Player of Year (1981)
• SJHL All-Star First Team (1981)
• SJHL Championship (1981)
• Centennial Cup First Team All-Star (1981)
• Centennial Cup Championship (1981)
• WCHA Freshman of the Year (1982)
• NCAA Championship (1982)
• Played in the World Junior Championships for Team Canada (1983)
• Played in the World Championships for Team Canada (1983, 1987, 1989, 1998, & 2002)
• Played in the Sarajevo Olympics for Team Canada (1984)
• Played in the Canada Cup Tournament for Team Canada (1987)
• Honoured Member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame
• Member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame^[10] (2008)
• In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, was ranked No. 44 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons^[11]

See also

• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

Notes

1. The 2020–21 WHL regular season was shortened, started late, then was cancelled early, and no playoffs were held, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Winnipeg Ice were in a mathematical position to finish anywhere from 2nd to 4th in the East Division when the season was cancelled.