Craig Patrick, third generation member of hockey's most stories family, has never sought the spotlight. It's simply not his nature. He has adroitly avoided most of the glare even while winning a pair of Stanley Cups, back to back, with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and 1992.
But now the spotlight has found Craig Patrick, and it is a bright one indeed. The date is Monday, November 12, and the somewhat reticent man who is still the general manager of the Penguins will receive hockey's highest honor, induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
To be sure, Patrick will have some heady company that night in Toronto --specifically Viacheslav Fetisov, Mike Gartner, Dale Hawerchuk and Jari Kurri.
2001 Hall of Fame Inductions
Editor's note: There's nothing more self-fulfilling to a hockey player than to be elected to the Hall of Fame. On Monday November 12, Four new members, Viacheslav Fetisov, Mike Gartner, Dale Hawerchuk and Jari Kurri, will be inducted into the Hall in the Player Category. Pittsburgh Penguin GM, Craig Patrick, will also enter the Hall, as he will be honored in the Builder Category.
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Yet, despite the magnificent accomplishments of his co-inductees, Patrick's honor will stand alone in a unique light. On November 12, Craig Patrick becomes the first man ever to join his father and his grandfather in the Hockey Hall of Fame, a "hat trick" of unprecedented proportions that figures to last a long, long time.
The Patricks, it has long been said, are hockey's "Royal Family." There was Lester Patrick, of course, Craig's grandfather and probably the greatest hockey innovator and builder of all time. Lester, who built the New York Rangers from scratch starting in 1926, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in the Hall's very first class. The year was 1947.
Lester's son, Craig's father, was Lynn Patrick, an All-Star left wing in 1941-42 and a great builder himself in New York, Boston, New Haven and St. Louis. Lynn reached the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980, nine years before receiving the Lester Patrick Trophy (named after his father) for "outstanding service to hockey in the United States."
Now it is Craig Patrick's turn to keep hockey's "Royal Family" in the news. He extends a tradition that stretched back to the early 1900's when Lester Patrick was one of hockey's greatest players, a roving defenseman, who starred on teams all across Canada from Montreal in the east to Victoria in the west.
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Patrick becomes the first man ever to join his father and his grandfather in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
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Craig Patrick's route to the Hockey Hall of Fame was certainly an extended one. He played major junior for the Montreal Junior Canadiens, starred at the University of Denver, competed for several United States national teams, played in the old World Hockey Association, and eventually cracked the NHL with the California Golden Seals, the St. Louis Blues, the Kansas City Scouts, and the Washington Capitals. He also found time to serve as assistant coach and assistant general manager of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" United States Olympic Team.
It was that vast amount of experience at all levels that landed Craig Patrick back in New York, the real home of his father and grandfather, in 1980 when he became general manager of the New York Rangers. New York being New York and hockey politics being hockey politics, that tenure was a short one, just over five seasons.
In 1989, Craig Patrick became the general manager of the Penguins, Twelve years -- and two Stanley Cups -- later, he is still at it, and universally respected as one of the best general managers in the game.
At 55 years-of-age, Craig Patrick is certainly still in the prime of his hockey life, a prime that will be celebrated in full on November 12.
