Editing Lester Patrick (section)

==Early life and career==
[[File:Joseph Patrick.jpg|thumb|left|Lester Patrick's father [[Joseph Patrick|Joe]]]]
Patrick's father, [[Joseph Patrick|Joe]], was the son of Irish immigrants: Thomas Patrick had emigrated from [[County Tyrone]] in [[Ireland]] to Canada in 1848 and settled in Quebec. Joe was born in 1857 and in 1883 married Grace Nelson. They moved to [[Drummondville]], [[Quebec]] where Joe worked as a general store clerk and Grace was a schoolmarm.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=9–10}}</ref> Drummondville was predominantly French-speaking and Catholic at the time, making the Anglophone and Methodist Patrick family a minority in the town.<ref name="Whitehead 11">{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=11}}</ref> Patrick was born on December 31, 1883, in Drummondville, Quebec, the oldest child of Joe and Grace Patrick.{{efn|There were six children in total: Lester, [[Frank Patrick (ice hockey)|Frank]], Lucinda, Edward, and Dora, and a girl who died in infancy.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=10–12, 39}}</ref>}} In 1887 the family moved {{convert|9|mi|km}} to Carmell Hill, where Joe bought a half-interest in a general store with [[William Mitchell (Canadian politician)|William Mitchell]].{{efn|Mitchell later became a [[Senate of Canada|Canadian senator]].<ref name="Whitehead 12">{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=12}}</ref>}} As in Drummondville the town was mainly Francophone, leading the family to learn French.<ref name="Whitehead 11"/> Joe and his partners sold their store in 1892 earning a substantial profit of [[Canadian dollar|$]]10,000; Joe used his $5,000 to establish a lumber company and built a mill in [[Daveluyville]], which was {{convert|60|mi|km}} west of [[Quebec City]].<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=11–12}}</ref> That winter Patrick and his younger brother [[Frank Patrick (ice hockey)|Frank]] received their first pair of [[Ice skate|skates]].<ref name="Whitehead 12"/> In 1893 the family moved again, this time to [[Montreal]], as Joe expanded his lumber company. They first lived in [[Pointe-Saint-Charles]], a rail district, before moving to the more prosperous suburb of [[Westmount, Quebec|Westmount]] in 1895.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=13–16}}</ref> While in Montreal the two older Patrick brothers were first introduced to [[ice hockey]].<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=14}}</ref> They also met [[Art Ross]] at this time, who became a close friend of both brothers and had an extensive career in hockey.<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2015|p=39}}</ref> Patrick developed into a strong hockey player and would frequently be invited as a ringer to play in important games.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=18}}</ref>

In 1901 Patrick enrolled in [[McGill University]]. He played [[basketball]] in his first semester as a student, and subsequently joined the hockey team. He was also invited to tryout for the [[Montreal Shamrocks]], a top senior team in the city; however as this would have meant leaving the university, Patrick declined the offer, following the advice of his father.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=22}}</ref> Even so Patrick only studied at McGill for one year before he withdrew. He was more focused on playing sports than studying, and so Joe decided to have Patrick start working for the family business. After initially working in an office role, within a year Patrick was promoted to a branch manager.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=23}}</ref> The company was downsized though and so in June 1903 Patrick decided to move to [[Calgary]] in Western Canada in an effort to work on cattle ranches. Upon arriving in Calgary he found the lifestyle was not suitable for him, and instead joined the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] as a rodman and chainman on a survey gang, working until the autumn of that year.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=23–24}}</ref>

On his way back to Montreal, Patrick stopped in [[Brandon, Manitoba]]. He had friends there playing hockey, and was offered spot with the team for $25 per month to cover expenses. He played as [[defenceman|cover-point]]{{efn|Point and cover-point were early versions of [[defenceman (ice hockey)|defencemen]], and were not expected to contribute much to offensive actions.<ref>{{harvnb|Hardy|Holman|2018|p=130}}</ref>}} for the season. While points and cover-points were not expected to contribute much to offensive actions, Patrick tried to carry the puck up the ice during a game, scoring a goal.<ref name="Whitehead 24">{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=24}}</ref> While the club questioned his motive, he argued that it was successful, and the fans enjoyed it, so was allowed to keep doing so.<ref>{{harvnb|Fischler|1976|p=9}}</ref> He also advocated for the two defenders to line up side-by-side, rather than one in front of the other as had been the standard since the beginning of hockey; this change was adopted by the team and soon widely adopted in hockey.<ref>{{harvnb|Fischler|1976|pp=9–10}}</ref> Brandon challenged the [[Ottawa Senators (original)|Ottawa Senators]] for the [[Stanley Cup]] in that season, but were defeated in the two-game, total-goal series. After the season Patrick returned to Montreal, arriving by March 1904.<ref name="Whitehead 24"/>

[[Image:Lester Patrick, Nelson Hockey Club.jpg|right|thumb|Patrick with the Nelson Hockey Club in 1909]]
Patrick played the [[1905 CAHL season|1904–05 season]] with [[Montreal Westmount]] in the [[Canadian Amateur Hockey League]] (CAHL), then the top level league in Canadian hockey.<ref>{{harvnb|Coleman|1964|p=102}}</ref> In eight games Patrick had four goals.<ref name="Coleman 634">{{harvnb|Coleman|1964|p=634}}</ref> While back from school during a break in [[1905 CAHL season|1905]], Frank briefly joined the [[Montreal Westmount]] club and played two games; this marked the first time the brothers played together. Preoccupied with work commitments for his father, Patrick frequently missed team workouts and the team did not perform very well.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=26}}</ref> The CAHL was disbanded prior to the start of the [[1906 ECAHA season|1905–06 season]] and replaced by a new league, the [[Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association]] (ECAHA).<ref>{{harvnb|Wong|2005|pp=38–39}}</ref> Patrick joined the [[Montreal Wanderers]], who were admitted to the new league, scoring 17 goals in nine games for them.<ref>{{harvnb|Coleman|1964|pp=634–635}}</ref> The Wanderers finished in a tie with Ottawa for first in the league, leading to a two game, total goal playoff was played for the league championship. The Wanders won the series 12 goals to 10, with Patrick scoring the final two goals in the last minutes of the second game, and were thus also awarded the Stanley Cup.<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2012|p=297}}</ref> The [[1907 ECAHA season|following season]] the Wanderers again finished first in the ECAHA, though lost the Cup in a challenge against the [[Kenora Thistles]], champions of the [[Manitoba Hockey Association]], in January 1907. In a rematch series in March 1907 the Wanderers defeated Kenora to again win the Cup.<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2012|pp=294–295}}</ref> Patrick had scored 11 goals in nine regular season games, and a further 10 goals in six Cup challenge games.<ref name="Coleman 634"/>

In 1907 Joe purchased a tract of land in the [[Slocan Valley]] in southeastern [[British Columbia]] (BC), and moved the family west to [[Nelson, British Columbia]], a town near the land, to start a new lumber company there. Frank remained in Montreal to complete his studies, as he had one year remaining.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=39}}</ref> In Nelson Patrick played for a local hockey team, scoring 22 goals in 6 games during the 1908–09 season.<ref>{{harvnb|MacLeod|2021|p=4}}</ref>

During the season Patrick also accepted an offer to join the [[Edmonton Hockey Club]] of the [[Alberta Amateur Hockey Association]] for their upcoming Cup challenge against his former team, the Wanderers. The team had signed several high-profile players from Eastern Canada to play for the team in the challenge; only two players on the team were from Edmonton, with the rest coming from the east.<ref>{{harvnb|Jenish|1992|p=74}}</ref> Patrick and [[Tommy Phillips]], who had played for Kenora, never even reached Edmonton; they met their team in [[Winnipeg]] on its way east for the Cup challenge.<ref name="Jenish 75">{{harvnb|Jenish|1992|p=75}}</ref> Edmonton lost the two game, total-goal series 14–9, with Patrick scoring one goal.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=47}}</ref> While other players were paid several hundred dollars for the series,{{efn|Phillips, who broke his ankle in the first game and sat out the second, was paid $600.<ref name="Jenish 75"/>}} Patrick was given $100 for expenses. In a story he told years later, Patrick noted that after informing his father he only spent $62, he was ordered to reimburse the Edmonton club the remaining $38; Patrick would claim this "must have been the first and last time in history that a hockey player ever returned any part of his expense money."<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=48}}</ref>

[[Image:MontrealWanderers1907.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Montreal Wanderers]] during the [[Stanley Cup]] challenge in 1907, in which the team would defeat the [[Kenora Thistles]]. Patrick is in the front row, third from right.]]
The following year a new top-level league, the [[National Hockey Association]] (NHA), was established; unlike the ECHA,{{efn|The ECAHA renamed itself the ECHA in 1908, dropping the word "Amateur".<ref>{{harvnb|Kitchen|2008|pp=160–161}}</ref>}} the NHA was openly professional.<ref>{{harvnb|McKinley|2000|p=73}}</ref> Several teams began to send offers to both Patrick brothers, who had decided to return east for the winter and play hockey there. Among the teams making offers were the [[Renfrew Creamery Kings]], owned by [[J. Ambrose O'Brien]], a wealthy mining magnate, and when Patrick received the offer he replied saying he would join the team for $3,000, an exorbitant salary for the era. Surprised by the offer, Patrick asked for his brother Frank as well, and Frank was offered $2,000 to join the team.<ref>{{harvnb|Cosentino|1990|p=56}}</ref>

Along with other high-profile players, most famously [[Cyclone Taylor]], who signed for a reported $5,250,{{efn|The figure $5,250 comes from Whitehead's biography of Taylor. However Cosentino has suggested the base salary was closer to $2,000, with the rest coming from a guaranteed salary outside of hockey and a bond to ensure he would sign. Regardless, Taylor had the highest salary in hockey history. See {{harvnb|Whitehead|1977|pp=105–106}} and {{harvnb|Cosentino|1990|p=73}}.}} the team was nicknamed the "Millionaires".<ref>{{harvnb|Kitchen|2008|p=165}}</ref> Along with several teammates, the Patricks lived in a boarding house in Renfrew during the season, and players were often seen together about town.<ref>{{harvnb|Cosentino|1990|p=76}}</ref> Patrick was the more out-spoken of the brothers, with Frank being quiet and reserved, though his demeanor changed when the topic of hockey came up. He became quite lively and was open about his ideas on how to improve the game, and what type of tactics could be used.<ref>{{harvnb|Cosentino|1990|pp=76–77}}</ref> Taylor would later recall he was quite impressed by the brothers knowledge and views, stating that "Frank in particular had an amazing grasp of the science of hockey, and they were both already dreaming about changes that would improve the game".<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1977|p=110}}</ref>