Lester Patrick facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lester Patrick |
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| Hockey Hall of Fame, 1947 | |||
Patrick in 1912, with the Victoria Aristocrats
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| Born | December 31, 1883 Drummondville, Quebec, Canada |
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| Died | June 1, 1960 (aged 76) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada |
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| Height | 6 ft 1 in (185 cm) | ||
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | New York Rangers Victoria Cougars Victoria Aristocrats Seattle Metropolitans Spokane Canaries Renfrew Creamery Kings Edmonton Pros Montreal Wanderers Brandon Wheat City |
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| Playing career | 1904–1928 | ||
Curtis Lester Patrick (born December 31, 1883 – died June 1, 1960) was a famous Canadian professional ice hockey player, coach, and manager. He is best known for his time with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars and the New York Rangers.
Lester, along with his brother Frank Patrick and their father Joseph Patrick, helped create the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). They also invented many important rules that are still used in hockey today. Patrick won the Stanley Cup six times in total, as a player, coach, and manager.
He was born in Drummondville, Quebec, but grew up in Montreal. He started playing hockey there and later worked for his father's lumber company. In 1904, Patrick played for the Brandon Hockey Club. He then played three years in Montreal, winning the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Wanderers in 1906 and 1907.
In 1907, his family moved to British Columbia. Lester played for a local team in Nelson, British Columbia. In 1911, the Patrick brothers formed the PCHA. Lester owned, managed, coached, and played for the Victoria team. He won the Stanley Cup again with Victoria in 1925. This was the last time a team outside the National Hockey League (NHL) won the Cup.
Lester and Frank introduced many new ideas to hockey. These include the blue line, the penalty shot, and keeping track of assists.
When the PCHA (which was renamed the Western Hockey League in 1924) was sold to the NHL in 1926, Patrick became the coach and manager for the new New York Rangers. He led the Rangers to Stanley Cup victories in 1928 and 1933. He later won another Cup as manager in 1940.
Patrick's sons, Lynn and Muzz, and grandsons, Craig and Glenn, also played in the NHL. Lynn, Muzz, and Craig later became coaches and general managers in the NHL. Lester Patrick was honored for his contributions to hockey when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947. The NHL's Lester Patrick Trophy and the former Patrick Division are named after him.
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Early Life and Hockey Start
Lester Patrick's father, Joe, was the son of Irish immigrants. Joe was born in 1857 and married Grace Nelson in 1883. They lived in Drummondville, Quebec, where Lester was born on December 31, 1883.
In 1893, Lester's family moved to Montreal. This is where Lester and his younger brother Frank first started playing ice hockey. They also met Art Ross, who became a close friend and had a long career in hockey. Lester became a very good hockey player.
In 1901, Patrick went to McGill University and played on their hockey team. However, he was more interested in sports than studying. So, after one year, he started working for his father's lumber business.
Playing in Manitoba and Montreal
In 1903, Patrick moved to Calgary in Western Canada. He tried working on cattle ranches but found it wasn't for him. He then worked for the Canadian Pacific Railway for a short time.
On his way back to Montreal, Patrick stopped in Brandon, Manitoba. He was offered a spot on the local hockey team for $25 a month. He played as a defenceman. During one game, he surprised everyone by carrying the puck up the ice and scoring a goal. This was unusual for defencemen at the time. He also suggested that the two defencemen should play side-by-side, which became a common strategy in hockey.
Brandon challenged the Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup that season but lost. After the season, Patrick returned to Montreal.
In the 1904–05 season, Patrick played for Montreal Westmount. The next season, he joined the Montreal Wanderers. He scored 17 goals in nine games. The Wanderers won the league championship and the Stanley Cup that year. Patrick scored the final two goals in the championship game.
The following season, the Wanderers won the Stanley Cup again. They defeated the Kenora Thistles in a rematch series. Patrick scored 11 goals in the regular season and 10 goals in the Cup challenge games.
Moving West and Professional Hockey
In 1907, Lester's father bought land in British Columbia. The family moved west to Nelson, British Columbia. Lester played for a local team there, scoring 22 goals in 6 games in the 1908–09 season.
He also played for the Edmonton Hockey Club in a Stanley Cup challenge against his old team, the Wanderers. Edmonton lost the series. Patrick later said he was paid $100 for expenses and returned $38 because he only spent $62. He joked that this was probably the only time a hockey player ever returned expense money!
The next year, a new professional league, the National Hockey Association (NHA), was formed. Lester and Frank decided to play back east. They joined the Renfrew Creamery Kings. Lester was offered a huge salary of $3,000, and Frank was offered $2,000. The team was nicknamed the "Millionaires" because of the high salaries paid to players like Cyclone Taylor.
Creating the Pacific Coast Hockey Association
In 1911, Lester's father sold his lumber company and gave Lester and Frank $25,000 each. Frank suggested they use this money to start their own hockey league in British Columbia. Lester was against the idea at first, but his father and brother convinced him. The family then moved to Victoria, British Columbia.
They officially started the new league, the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), on December 7, 1911. Because of the mild weather on the West Coast, natural ice couldn't be used. So, the Patrick family built two new arenas: the Denman Arena in Vancouver and the Patrick Arena in Victoria.
Lester traveled east to find players for the new league. He offered players up to twice what they were earning in the NHA. He managed and played for the Victoria team, while Frank did the same for the Vancouver team. In the first season (1912), Lester played all 16 games and scored 10 goals. He was much taller and bigger than most players of that time.
The PCHA quickly became a strong league, bringing in many players from the east.
Victoria Aristocrats and Innovations
Before the 1913–14 season, Patrick broke his left arm. He couldn't play much but continued to coach. Victoria started the season poorly but finished strong and won the league championship. They then played the NHA champions, the Toronto Blueshirts, for the Stanley Cup. Toronto won the series 3 games to 0.
In January 1916, the Victoria Arena was taken over by the Canadian military for training. So, before the 1916–17 season, Patrick moved his team to Spokane, Washington. They were renamed the Spokane Canaries. After that season, the Canaries team was stopped. Patrick then joined the Seattle Metropolitans.
The Victoria team was brought back in 1918 as the Victoria Cougars. Patrick became their player-manager again. He stopped playing after the 1922 season. As head coach, Patrick led the Cougars to win the Stanley Cup in 1925. This was the last time a team outside the NHL won the Cup.
Lester and Frank Patrick introduced many new rules and ideas to hockey. These include:
- The blue line
- The penalty shot
- Tracking assists
- The forward pass
- The playoff system
- Using numbers on players' jerseys to help fans identify them
- Allowing goalies to fall to the ice to make saves
New York Rangers Era
By the early 1920s, the PCHA was losing money. In 1924, the Seattle team folded. With only two teams left, the Patricks decided to merge with another league, the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL). This league was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL).
The WHL continued for two more seasons until 1926. But it was clear the league couldn't last. The NHL was growing quickly, adding many new teams. So, the WHL teams agreed to sell their players' rights to the NHL. This allowed the NHL to quickly get players for its new expansion teams.
In October 1926, Lester Patrick was offered the job of coach for the New York Rangers. The Rangers were a new expansion team in the NHL. Soon after, he also became the team's general manager.
Famous Goalie Moment
Patrick is famous for something that happened on April 7, 1928. It was during Game 2 of the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals against the Montreal Maroons. The Rangers' starting goalie, Lorne Chabot, was hit in the eye by the puck and couldn't play.
At 44 years old, Patrick decided to put himself in as the new goalie! He told his players, "Boys, don't let an old man down." He is still the oldest person to have played in a Stanley Cup Finals game. At that time, teams usually didn't have a backup goalie. The opposing coach had to agree to a substitute. The Maroons' coach refused to let the Rangers use another NHL goalie.
So, Patrick played goalie himself. He saved 18 or 19 shots and only let in one goal. The Rangers won the game in overtime! For the next three games, the league allowed the Rangers to use another goalie, Joe Miller. The Rangers went on to win their first Stanley Cup that year.
Coaching and Managing Success
The Rangers played in the Stanley Cup Finals again in 1929 and 1932 but lost both times. They won their second Stanley Cup in 1933, beating the Toronto Maple Leafs. Patrick coached the team to the Finals one more time in 1937, but they lost.
He stopped coaching in 1939 but stayed on as the Rangers' general manager. He won the Stanley Cup one last time in 1940 when the Rangers defeated Toronto.
During World War II, many Rangers players joined the armed forces. This made the team weaker. Patrick resigned as general manager in 1946. He continued to work as a vice president for Madison Square Garden until he retired in 1950.
Later Life and Legacy
Lester Patrick developed lung cancer and passed away in Victoria on June 1, 1960, at age 76. His brother Frank died exactly four weeks later.
The Lester Patrick Trophy is named after him. This award is given for outstanding contributions to hockey in the United States. He also had an NHL division named after him, the Patrick Division, which existed from 1974 to 1993. The championship trophy of the Western Hockey League was also renamed the Lester Patrick Cup after his death. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947.
Patrick believed in building players' confidence and trust. He was patient and would show players how to do things on the ice.
The Patrick brothers created at least 22 rules that are still in the NHL rulebook today. They changed how hockey was played forever.
Lester Patrick also helped create the "farm team" system. This is where a main team sponsors smaller minor and junior league teams. This helped the Rangers find and keep talented players from different areas. He even started holding Rangers training camps in Winnipeg to find players outside of Ontario and Quebec.
The Patricks are often called "Hockey's Royal Family." Lester's son, Lynn, and grandson, Craig, are also in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Another son, Muzz, played for and later managed the Rangers. His grandsons, Glenn and Dick, also had careers in hockey.
Patrick even played a role in the early development of women's hockey. In 1911, he coached the Nelson Ladies Hockey Club. The Patrick brothers also discussed forming a women's league in 1916. While a full league didn't form, women's teams from Seattle, Vancouver, and Victoria played games during intermissions of PCHA games in 1921.
Awards and Achievements
- Stanley Cup champion (6 times):
- As a player: 1906, 1907
- As an owner/manager/coach: 1925, 1928, 1933, 1940
Images for kids
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Lester Patrick's father, Joe.
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Patrick with the Nelson Hockey Club in 1909.
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The Montreal Wanderers during the Stanley Cup challenge in 1907. Patrick is in the front row, third from right.
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The Patrick Arena in 1912. It was built by the Patrick family.
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Lester Patrick serving as goaltender during the 1928 Stanley Cup Finals.
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Frank Patrick with the Renfrew Creamery Kings, circa 1910–12. The Patrick brothers introduced many new hockey rules.
