Muzz Patrick

{{short description|Canadian ice hockey player and coach}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| position = Defence

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 2

| weight_lb = 200

| played_for = New York Rangers

| birth_date = {{birth date|1915|6|28|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1998|7|27|1915|6|28}}

| death_place = Riverside, Connecticut, United States

| career_start = 1937

| career_end = 1941
1945–1950

}}

Frederick Murray "Muzz" Patrick (June 28, 1915 – July 27, 1998) was a Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and general manager. He played in the National Hockey League with the New York Rangers from 1938 to 1941, and then from 1945 to 1946. He was general manager of the Rangers from 1955 to 1964, serving as coach on three separate occasions during that time. As a player Patrick won the Stanley Cup with the Rangers in 1940. He was part of the Patrick family, which had a long association with hockey: his father Lester had previously worked as the Rangers coach and manager, among other roles; his uncle Frank had founded the Pacific Coast Hockey Association with Lester; and Muzz's brother Lynn had played on the Rangers with him and later coached and managed the Boston Bruins.

Early life

Patrick was born in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1915. He excelled at several sports as a kid, including boxing, and in 1934, he won the Canadian amateur heavyweight title.[http://rangers.nhl.com/club/atrplayer.htm?id=8448097 "Muzz Patrick"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308050449/http://rangers.nhl.com/club/atrplayer.htm?id=8448097 |date=2014-03-08 }}. nhl.com. Retrieved March 7, 2014.

Ice hockey career

Patrick began his professional hockey career with the EAHL's New York Crescents in 1934, and in 1938, he started playing for the NHL's New York Rangers. He helped the team win the Stanley Cup in 1939–40.[http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/SearchPlayer.jsp?player=13939 "Muzz Patrick"]. legendsofhockey.net. Retrieved March 7, 2014. From 1941 to 1945, Patrick served in the U.S. military and attained the rank of captain.

After the war, Patrick played for the Rangers for one season and in 1946 left the team to accept a position as a player-coach with the St. Paul Saints of the United States Hockey League.{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=237}} He spent two years with the Saints before moving to the Tacoma Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL), playing a few games with the Rockets when needed.{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=244}} In 1953 he joined the Seattle Bombers of the WHL, though left the team in 1954 when the Rangers hired him to coach there.{{harvnb|Stott|2008|p=52}}

In 1954, he returned to the Rangers as a coach. He coached for one season and then served as the team's GM until 1964.

Personal life

Patrick's father, Lester, and brother, Lynn, were also coaches in the NHL.Durso, Joseph. [https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/25/sports/muzz-patrick-83-a-ranger-on-1940-stanley-cup-team.html "Muzz Patrick, 83, a Ranger On 1940 Stanley Cup Team"]. nytimes.com. July 25, 1998. Retrieved March 7, 2014. His son is Washington Capitals executive Dick Patrick.{{cite web | url=https://apnews.com/article/43ed16e0267618ed111fbf7b7034adf1 | title=Ex-NY Ranger Muzz Patrick, 83, Dies | website=Associated Press }}

Patrick married Jessie Farr in December 1942.{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=231}} During the Second World War both he and Lynn enlisted in the US Army in 1942; though not American citizens they were eligible based on their residency status in the United States. Patrick was initially stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, though also served on transports overseas in Africa, Italy, and France.{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=228–232}} He rose to the rank of captain before being discharged in September 1945.{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=232}}

Patrick died in Riverside, Connecticut, in 1998. He was survived by his wife, Jessie, four children, 12 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren.

Career statistics

=Regular season and playoffs=

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"|

! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"|

! colspan="5"|Regular season

! rowspan="100" bgcolor="#ffffff"|

! colspan="5"|Playoffs

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! Season

! Team

! League

! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM

! GP !! G !! A !! Pts !! PIM

1933–34

| Westmount Academy

| HS-CA

| —

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1934–35

| New York Crescents

| EAHL

| 21

33616

| 6

2359
1935–36

| New York Rovers

| EAHL

| 40

381131

| 8

22415
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1936–37

| Philadelphia Ramblers

| IAHL

| 50

2111375

| 6

0112
1937–38

| Philadelphia Ramblers

| IAHL

| 48

36937

| 5

2026
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1937–38

| New York Rangers

| NHL

| 1

0220

| 3

0002
1938–39

| New York Rangers

| NHL

| 48

1101170

| 7

10117
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1939–40

| New York Rangers

| NHL

| 44

24644

| 12

30313
1940–41

| New York Rangers

| NHL

| 47

281021

| 3

0002
bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1945–46

| New York Rangers

| NHL

| 24

0224

| —

1945–46

| Providence Reds

| AHL

| 2

0110

| —

bgcolor="#f0f0f0"

| 1945–46

| St. Paul Saints

| USHL

| 7

0000

| —

1949–50

| Tacoma Rockets

| PCHL

| 8

00012

| —

bgcolor="#e0e0e0"

! colspan="3" | NHL totals

! 164 !! 5 !! 26 !! 31 !! 139

! 25 !! 4 !! 0 !! 4 !! 34

Coaching record

class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"|Teamrowspan="2"|Yearcolspan="6"|Regular seasoncolspan="1"|Playoffs
GWLTPtsDivision rankResult
New York Rangers

| 1953–54

| 30 || 15 || 11 || 4 || 34

| 5th in NHL

| Did not qualify

New York Rangers

| 1954–55

| 70 || 17 || 35 || 18 || 52

| 5th in NHL

| Did not qualify

New York Rangers

| 1959–60

| 2 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 1

| 6th in NHL

| Did not qualify

New York Rangers

| 1962–63

| 34 || 11 || 19 || 4 || 26

| 5th in NHL

| Did not qualify

colspan="2"| NHL Totals

| 136 || 43 || 66 || 27 || 113

See also

References

{{reflist}}

=Bibliography=

{{refbegin}}

  • {{Citation|last=Stott|first=Jon C.|year=2008|title=Ice Warriors: The Pacific Coast/Western Hockey League 1948–1974|publisher=Heritage House Publishing|location=Surrey, British Columbia|isbn=978-1-894974-54-7}}
  • {{Citation|last=Whitehead|first=Eric|title=The Patricks: Hockey's Royal Family|publisher=Doubleday|location=New York City|year=1980|isbn=0-385-15662-6}}

{{refend}}