Lester Patrick

Lester Patrick
Hockey Hall of Fame, 1947
Patrick in 1912, with the Victoria Aristocrats
Born	(1883-12-31)December 31, 1883 Drummondville, Quebec, Canada
Died	June 1, 1960(1960-06-01) (aged 76) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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
Playing career	1904–1928

Curtis Lester Patrick (December 31, 1883 – June 1, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA; Western Hockey League (WHL) after 1924), and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with his brother Frank Patrick and father Joseph Patrick, he founded the PCHA and helped develop several rules for the game of hockey. Patrick won the Stanley Cup six times as a player, coach and manager.

Born in Drummondville, Quebec, Patrick moved to Montreal with his family at a young age and grew up there, and started playing hockey at this time while also working for his father's lumber company. Patrick first played for a top-level team in 1904 when he spent a season with the Brandon Hockey Club in Manitoba, and subsequently played three years in Montreal, winning the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Wanderers in both 1906 and 1907. Moving west to British Columbia with his family in 1907 Patrick played for a local team in Nelson, British Columbia, and was invited to join the Edmonton Hockey Club for a Cup challenge in 1908. Patrick and his brother Frank were lured back east in 1909 by promises of a large salary to join the Renfrew Creamery Kings of the National Hockey Association, though both returned to Nelson after one season with Renfrew.

In 1911 the brothers formed the PCHA, and Patrick owned, managed, coached, and played for the Victoria team. He led the team to a Cup challenge in 1914, and aside from one season with the Seattle Metropolitans in 1917–18 he was with the team until the league was sold off in 1926. While with Victoria he won the Cup again in 1925, the last team outside the National Hockey League (NHL) to do so. Along with Frank, Patrick would introduce many innovations in the PCHA that remain in hockey today, including the blue line, the penalty shot, and tracking assists, among others.

When the WHL, as the PCHA had been renamed in 1924, was sold to the NHL in 1926, Patrick was hired by the expansion New York Rangers to be their coach and manager. He led the team to Stanley Cup wins in 1928 and 1933, along with three further Finals appearances. He resigned as coach in 1939 though remained as manager, winning the Cup in that role again in 1940, before resigning from that role in 1946.

Patrick's sons Lynn and Muzz both played for him on the Rangers, and his grandsons Craig and Glenn also played in the NHL. Lynn, Muzz, and Craig all later coached and served as general managers in the NHL as well, while another grandson, Dick is an executive and part-owner of the Washington Capitals; in 2024, great-grandson Chris was named general manager of the Capitals. Patrick's contributions to hockey were recognized with his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947, and he is also the namesake of the NHL's Lester Patrick Trophy, awarded for outstanding contributions to hockey in the United States, and the Patrick Division, which existed in the NHL from 1974 to 1993.