James Patrick (ice hockey)

James Patrick (born June 14, 1963) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Playing career
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 with the New York Rangers, 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 defencemen 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 the 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.

Coaching career
Patrick joined the Buffalo Sabres as assistant coach in 2006. He made his debut as head coach in February 2012, when Lindy Ruff was incapable of coaching due to an injury. After Ruff was fired in February 2013, Patrick remained with the Sabres' coaching staff until the end of the season, and then was let go.

After the 2013 season he re-joined Ruff as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars. At the end of the 2016–17 regular season, Patrick was let go when the Stars elected not to renew Ruff's expiring contract, after the team missed the playoffs.

On June 6, 2017, it was announced that Patrick was named as the head coach for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

On November 6, 2023, Patrick was named the next head coach of the Victoria Royals, following the dismissal of Dan Price.

Personal life
Patrick is half Ukrainian and half English. His father, Stephen (born as Stepan Patrebka), was the child of Ukrainian immigrants from the Lviv region, and played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. Patrick is the brother of Steve and the uncle of former player Nolan Patrick.

In 2014, Patrick was charged with assault stemming from a domestic incident, while working as an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars.

Awards and honours

 * 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 Freshman of the Year (1982)
 * NCAA Championship (1982)
 * 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
 * Member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame (2008)
 * In the 2009 book 100 Ranger Greats, was ranked No. 44 all-time of the 901 New York Rangers who had played during the team's first 82 seasons