James Patrick

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).

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.

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.

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).

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

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. 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.

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 Postseason G W L OTL SL Pts Finish ResultKOO2017–1872273852614th in CentralMissed playoffsKOO2018–1968134573365th in CentralMissed playoffsWPG2019–2063382410772nd in EastPlayoffs cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemicWPG2020–21241851037 no standingsno playoffsWPG2021–22685310321111st in EastLost in East FinalWPG2022–23685710101151st in EastLost in WHL FinalKOO/WPG totals 363206132187437 VIC2023–2468293054674th in B.C.Lost in first roundVIC2024–2568401747911st in B.C.Lost in second roundVIC totals 1366947911158 WHL totals 4992751792718595

Awards and honours Award Year All-WCHA Second Team 1981–82 All-NCAA All-Tournament Team 1982 All-WCHA First Team 1982–83

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 (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