James Patrick

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James Patrick (born June 6, 1963 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) is a former professional ice hockey defenceman, and is now a coach with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League.

After a successful collegiate career at the University of North Dakota, Patrick began his professional career with the New York Rangers in 1984. Patrick enjoyed 10 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 defenceman in both all times game played (1280)and total points (639)and some consider him one of the most underrated players of the last two decades. Patrick set a record (since broken) for career games played by a Team Canada player with 40 career games, breaking 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 League with the Frankfurt Lions.

On September 12, 2006, Patrick was re-signed as an assistant coach with Buffalo.

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Preceded by
Chris Drury
Buffalo Sabres captains
December 2003
Succeeded by
J.P. Dumont
In other languages