44. James Patrick

Roger Neilson, one of the many Rangers head coaches for whom James Patrick played, “marveled at (Patrick) as one of the single most impressive skaters he’d ever seen.”¹ Patrick combined his speed and elite edge work with smarts to get into good defensive position, evade defenders when carrying the puck up ice, and dance along the point to get into perfect position to set up the offense, particularly on the power play. He had decent size, but his style “leaned more toward craft than physical dominance.”²

GM Craig Patrick (no relation) selected James with the ninth overall pick in the 1981 draft. NCAA and Olympic success set high expectations for Patrick in New York. The Hockey News called Patrick “the defensive anchor of the future.”³ After a late-season debut in 1983-84, he struggled in his first full campaign: “I had a really tough year and did not live up to expectations.”⁴

He got a little more comfortable in 1985-86, and played every playoff game as the Rangers made a surprising Conference Finals run. In 1986-87, Patrick came into his own as a polished player. Towards the end of that season, he said, “When you play so much, things just happen. I have my game legs. The puck feels good on my stick.”⁵ It was the start of six consecutive excellent seasons as a key Rangers leader.

Despite that excellence, Patrick had to put up with frequent reminders that he “never become the star he was, rightly or wrongly, projected to be.”⁶ He also saw his name leaked as a trade candidate multiple times during his long Rangers stint. Phil Esposito, shortly after being named Rangers GM in 1986, said Patrick “thinks too much”⁷ and it was soon reported Patrick was being shopped around. He admitted the rumors made it feel he was playing “with a piano on my chest.”⁸ Esposito must have come around to appreciating Patrick, because Patrick ended up as one of the few to stick with the Rangers for all of “Trader Phil”‘s time as GM.

Offensively, Patrick did most of his damage while on the power play. You could probably stump many die-hard Rangers fans by asking them to name the top three all-time Rangers in power-play points. Plenty will get two correct in Brian Leetch (514) and Rod Gilbert (323), but I don’t know how many would name Patrick (237) as the third. Only two players on this list scored more than half of their Rangers points while on the power play: Leetch (52%) and Patrick (51%). Those two paired up on the top PP unit for years, and were probably the best power-play D pair the Rangers have ever had other than the short-lived tandem of Leetch and Sergei Zubov.

Though he Rangers of the 1980s were often mediocre in the regular season, Patrick played in an impressive eight postseasons with the Blueshirts. He led the team to a 1990 first-round win against the Islanders with a monster series. In round two, the Capitals shut down New York’s power play, by, as Rod Langway put it, “just keeping the puck away from James Patrick.”⁹

By 1991-92, the Rangers were shaping into a powerhouse. Patrick had his career-best offensive year and helped the team claim the President’s Trophy. Expectations were sky-high for 1992-93, but the season turned into a nightmare for the team and for Patrick. He suffered multiple injuries, which cut into his games played and his effectiveness when he did hit the ice. The offense dropped off and defensive lapses were frequent. Patrick later recalled, “I hurt my back in November (1992), got hit from behind, and kept playing for about three more months, which was so stupid because I ended up having nerve damage in my leg. I never recovered, I never could skate the same way again. I knew there was something wrong with my back, but back then it was ‘tape of an aspirin on it.'”¹⁰

When Mike Keenan was hired in the summer of 1993, Patrick initially thought “it might be the best thing for me.”¹¹ Turned out…not so much. Keenan later wrote, “(Patrick) was an offensive defenseman…I didn’t think we needed him. We already had Brian Leetch and Sergei Zubov.”¹² That sounds sensible, until you consider that Zubov was not yet established and started the season in the minors. Keenan never gave Patrick a chance, and it had nothing to do with Zubov. Keenan did not utter a word to Patrick in camp.¹³ Once the regular season started, Patrick was a frequent scratch and barely saw the ice even when he was in the lineup. Keenan even felt the need to publicly air his contempt for Patrick. After the third game of the season, in which Patrick barely touched the ice, Keenan told the press, “James let his teammates down. He didn’t play very competitively, so as a result, he didn’t play.”¹⁴

GM Neil Smith had no choice but to make a trade. Patrick and Darren Turcotte were sent to Hartford in a three-team deal that brought Steve Larmer, Nick Kypreos, and Barry Richter to New York. Despite having lost much of his skating ability—such a crucial element of his game with the Rangers—Patrick played another decade in the league. The offense disappeared, but he was a steady defender and mentor. He was an NHL assistant coach from 2006–17 and has been a head coach in the CHL since 2017.

Skip ahead to 3:28 in this video to watch Patrick use his smooth skating to get into perfect position and blast in a powerplay goal during his great 1990 playoff series against the Islanders: