Game On Magazine 2017 Game On Magazine - Regular Season Edition | Page 80

started to peak his interest
prior to his coaching job
concluding in Dallas.
“It was always in the back
of my mind,” he says. “The
last three years watching so
much of the Western Hockey
League because of my nephew
(former Wheat Kings star now
Philadelphia Flyers rookie
Nolan Patrick), I got a real
good feel for the game.”
Now at 54, Patrick is back
in junior hockey, a level of the
game he hasn’t been part of
since he was a teenager in the
early 1980s in Prince Albert.
“I love coaching and
teaching,” he said. “You’re
still emotionally invested
in the game. If you can’t
play anymore it’s the next
best thing. You have the
ultimate pain of mistakes
and losses and the joy of
successes and wins.”
Patrick says he’s learned
from others along the way
to formulate his coaching
style. Those mentors include
Scott Arniel (Rangers),
Curt Fraser (Dallas), Brian
McCutcheon (Cornell) and
Ruff, who he considers a great
friend after coaching with
him in Buffalo and