| James Patrick | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 14, 1963 Winnipeg, MB, CAN |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| 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 | 1983–2004 2005–2006 |
James Patrick (born June 14, 1963) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman, and is now a coach with the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League. He is half Ukrainian (father Stephen Patrick (born Stepan Patrebka in Ukraine) played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers[1] and was born into a prominent family from the Lviv region) and half English.
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, 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 defenceman 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 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.
On September 12, 2006, Patrick was re-signed as an assistant coach with Buffalo. He now lives near Buffalo with his wife and two daughters.
| Preceded by Jim Malone |
New York Rangers first round draft pick 1981 |
Succeeded by Chris Kontos |
| Preceded by Chris Drury |
Buffalo Sabres captain December 2003 |
Succeeded by Jean-Pierre Dumont |