Lester Patrick

Lester Patrick
Hockey Hall of Fame , 1947
Date of birth	December 30, 1883
place of birth	Drummondville , Quebec , Canada
date of death	June 1, 1960
Nickname	The Silver Fox
position	defender
Shot hand	Left
Career stations
1917-1918	Seattle Metropolitans
1918-1922	Victoria Aristocrats
1925-1926	Victoria Cougars
1926-1928	New York Rangers

Curtis Lester "The Silver Fox" Patrick (born December 30, 1883 in Drummondville , Québec , † June 1, 1960 ) was a Canadian ice hockey player and as a coach and general manager one of the founding fathers of the New York Rangers . Many rules in ice hockey that are still up to date go back to Lester Patrick.

Career

Youth and Time in Eastern Canada (1883–1907)

The eldest son of a Protestant timber manufacturer, Lester Patrick was born in Quebec Province in 1883 . He learned to play ice hockey with his two years younger brother Frank . In its early days, ice hockey was still played with seven players and Lester played in an offensive role that was exempt from defensive duties, later he became one of the first offensive defenders in ice hockey history. He played in Brandon and reached the finals of the Stanley Cup with the team , but lost to the Ottawa Silver Seven .

In 1906 he was able to win his first Stanley Cup with the Montreal Wanderers . The title defense one season later succeeded straight away. After winning the title, he and his brother set out to follow their father, who moved to the west coast of Nelson in British Columbia and was now successfully working in the timber trade there.

In western Canada / PCHA founded (1907–1926)

In addition to the timber trade, the brothers remained true to their great passion, ice hockey. They had made artificial ice and had the advantage with their team of being able to train all year round. In 1908 the Patricks played some friendly games with other players from western Canada at New York's St. Nicholas Arena . Here Lester discovered his love for New York .

In 1910, the National Hockey Association was founded in eastern Canada . Lester Patrick has received offers from the Renfrew Creamery Kings and the Ottawa Silver Seven. He preferred Ottawa and called a salary of $ 1,500 in Ottawa while he asked for $ 3,000 in Renfrew. At the time, $ 400 was a fairly common salary. When Renfrew agreed to pay the $ 3,000 and also offered his brother Frank $ 2,000, the brothers switched to the Creamery Kings.

In 1911 the father sold his company. The brothers returned to the West and were instrumental in founding the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). They founded teams in Vancouver and Victoria, built stadiums with around 10,000 seats and lured stars from the East such as Fred "Cyclone" Taylor , Moose Johnson and Newsy Lalonde into their league.

In addition to their activities in the league, the brothers were also very keen to further develop the game. On their initiative, the rules of the PCHA were changed. Among other things, the blue lines to subdivide the pitch, counting assists, the flying change, penalties for board checks and game delays, but also bans that existed at the time, such as the offensive pass and the goalkeeper rule that the goalie was not allowed to fall on his knees in defense , have been canceled.

Lester was a top star and captain of the Victoria Aristocrats for five years. The team did not achieve the expected audience numbers and moved to Spokane in 1916 . Lester switched to the current Stanley Cup winner, the Seattle Metropolitans

In 1918, under Lester's leadership, another team in Victoria, the Victoria Cougars, took part in gaming. He was still active until 1922, after which he worked there as general manager. In the 1924-25 season , Patrick's Cougars were the last team to win the Stanley Cup and not play in the NHL .

The New York Years (1926–1960)

As a manager, he represented his injured goalkeeper and led the Rangers to a final victory in 1928

George "Tex" Rickard, the owner of Madison Square Garden wanted to bring a second NHL team to New York, which was nicknamed Texas Rangers in advance. Conn Smythe was general manager and signed numerous players with high potential, but before the first game of the New York Rangers , the final team name, Smythe was replaced by Lester Patrick, as it was feared that the signed players would not be competitive. Patrick acted as trainer and general manager. He benefited from Conn Smyhe's player selection as the team had a number of future Hall of Famers including Bill and Bun Cook , Ching Johnson and Frank Boucher .

In the second season of the Rangers 1927/28 there was a memorable event in the finals against the Montreal Maroons . Nels Stewart had injured the Rangers goalkeeper, Lorne Chabot, so badly with a shot that he was unable to continue playing. At that time there was no substitute goalkeeper on the bench. Patrick had seen the goalie of the Boston Bruins , Alex Connell , in the audience and asked the Maroons if they would agree to Connell's use, the Maroons declined the suggestion. He brought the bad news to his team. It is not known for sure whether the suggestion came from the team or from Patrick himself, but Patrick, who had never been in goal before, put on his goalkeeping equipment and ran open. The audience was surprised when the now 45-year-old gray-haired coach came out on the ice as a goalkeeper. The only question now was how big the victory of the Maroons would be, but the defense of the Rangers was very compact and Patrick held almost everything that came on his goal. A 1-0 lead by the Rangers was able to equalize Nels Stewart, but the Rangers won through an overtime goal from Frank Boucher. That year the Rangers won their second Stanley Cup.

In 1939, Lester Patrick handed the place behind the gang to Frank Boucher and served as general manager until 1946. Here, too, Boucher was his successor. Until 1950 he was still vice president of Madison Square Garden.

Honors

In 1947 he was honored with the induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame . In the Western Hockey League , the best team at the end of the season from 1960 to 1974 received the Lester Patrick Cup . Since 1966, the NHL has been awarding the Lester Patrick Trophy for special achievements in American ice hockey , and an NHL group was also named after him. From 1974 to 1993, the group in which the New York Rangers played, among others, was called Patrick Division .

The family

In addition to his brother Frank, various relatives of his have appeared in important roles in the NHL. His son Lynn Patrick played for the Rangers, where he also briefly worked as a coach. He was general manager of the Boston Bruins and the St. Louis Blues . His brother Muzz Patrick was also the Rangers' trainer and general manager.

His grandson and Lynn's son, Craig Patrick, played for various teams, was assistant coach at the Miracle on Ice and coach and general manager of the Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins . His brother Glenn Patrick played in the NHL. Muzz's son, Dick Patrick, is president and co-owner of the Washington Capitals .

Lester Patrick was already suffering from cancer in 1960 when he died of a heart attack .

Achievements and Awards

1906 Stanley Cup win with the Montreal Maroons 1907 Stanley Cup win with the Montreal Maroons 1928 Stanley Cup win with the New York Rangers (as head coach and general manager) 1931 NHL First All-Star Team (as head coach) 1932 NHL First All-Star Team (as head coach) 1933 Stanley Cup win with the New York Rangers (as head coach and general manager)

1933 NHL First All-Star Team (as head coach) 1934 NHL First All-Star Team (as head coach) 1935 NHL First All-Star Team (as head coach) 1936 NHL First All-Star Team (as head coach) 1938 NHL First All-Star Team (as head coach) 1940 Stanley Cup win with the New York Rangers (as General Manager)

Web links

• Lester Patrick in the database of the Hockey Hall of Fame (English)
• Lester Patrick at hockeydb.com (English)