Former Prince Albert Raider James Patrick is in his sixth season as a WHL head coach. (Zachary Peters/Winnipeg ICE)

By Rob Mahon

Patrick Pursues Championship

‘One of the greatest years of my life’: Former Raider Patrick recalls lone season in Prince Albert

Mar 21, 2023 | 12:58 PM

When you have a career in hockey that spans five different decades, it would be understandable if some parts of it blended together after a while. But ask former Prince Albert Raider James Patrick, and he’ll tell you he still remembers his time in Prince Albert well, and remembers it fondly.

“I remember it as one of the greatest years of my life, hockey-wise,” Patrick said. “When I came here, they were a Junior A dynasty. Terry Simpson was synonymous with winning and competing. I learned so much from him and Rick Wilson, and played with incredible teammates.”

Patrick played for the Raiders in the 1980-81 season, at which time they were still part of the SJHL. In his only season in Prince Albert, Patrick was the team’s leading scorer among defencemen with 82 points in 59 games. He was a huge part of a team that proved to be a juggernaut, winning the Manitoba Centennial Cup.

“We had as good of a Junior A team as there was,” Patrick said. “We could beat most of the teams in the Western Hockey League. A lot of players went on and played pro, great players. Dave Tippett, he was a defensive, penalty killing centre in the NHL, but he was a fantastic two-way player when I played with him.”

Though more than 40 years have passed, Patrick’s memory of his old team is still vivid and he can recall the contributions of many individual players, from Robin Bartel (whom he referred to as “a dominant defenceman) to Peter Anholt (“a leader among leaders”).

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“We had toughness, we had great 20-year-olds, incredible team camaraderie,” Patrick said. “For me, it was the first time I had a taste of what team culture is. The culture that Terry Simpson instilled, you hated losing.”

Of all the players on his team, none had a lengthier NHL career than Patrick, who suited up for 1,280 NHL games over the course of 21 seasons. The time he spent as a Raider is time he still views as critical to helping him make that jump to the highest level of hockey on the planet.

“It had a huge impact on me,” Patrick said. “I would never have played pro, I would not have played in the NHL had I not come here that year and loved this city and the crowd. We sold out, every playoff game you couldn’t get a seat. The atmosphere, the love of the Raiders from the city was fantastic.”

Now firmly entrenched in the coach’s role, in his sixth season as a WHL head coach with the Kootenay/Winnipeg ICE, Patrick is hoping for a lot more playoff games this season. The ICE are in first place in the WHL, locked into first in the Eastern Conference and with a four-point lead on Seattle for first overall.

“I really hope we can be peaking come playoff time,” Patrick said. “We want to be healthy, but you can’t dictate that. Whatever happens in the game happens. I want us to really have our system down pat in all three zones. We don’t have the luxury of resting players because we’re already short-manned, and every time I’ve seen a team ease into the playoffs it usually comes back and hurts them.”

Last season, Winnipeg lost in the Eastern Conference Final to the eventual league champion Edmonton Oil Kings.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP