James Patrick

James Patrick (born June 14, 1963 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) 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 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 League with the Frankfurt Lions.

On September 12, 2006, Patrick was re-signed as an assistant coach with Buffalo. He now lives in East Amherst with his wife and two daughters.

Awards and achievements

*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 Second All-Star Team (1982)
*WCHA Freshman of the Year (1982)
*NCAA Chamionship All-Tournament Team (1982)
*NCAA Championship (1982)
*WCHA First All-Star Team (1983)
*NCAA West All American Team (1983)
*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

ee also

*List of NHL players
*List of NHL seasons

External links

* [http://www.hockeydraftcentral.com/1981/81009.html Profile at hockeydraftcentral.com]
*hockeydb|4181
*legendsofhockey|11258
* [http://www.mbhockeyhalloffame.ca/honoured/players.html?category=9&id=374 James Patrick's biography] at [http://www.mbhockeyhalloffame.ca/index.html Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame]