Editing Lester Patrick (section)

==New York Rangers==
[[Image:Lpatrick.jpg|thumb|left|Lester Patrick serving as goaltender during the [[1928 Stanley Cup Finals]]]]
By the early 1920s the PCHA was losing money. Seattle folded in 1924, and with only two teams left (Vancouver and Victoria), the Patricks decided to merge with the [[Western Canada Hockey League]], which was renamed the Western Hockey League (WHL).<ref>{{harvnb|Ross|2015|p=133}}</ref> The WHL continued for two seasons until 1926, though with continued financial difficulties and expansion plans by the NHL (which would add three teams between 1924 and 1926, growing to ten teams overall) it was clear the league would not be sustainable.<ref>{{harvnb|Wong|2005|pp=95–96}}</ref> With the consent of five of the six WHL teams{{efn|Saskatoon had an agreement to sell its players to the [[Montreal Maroons]].<ref name="Whitehead 152">{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=152}}</ref>}} Frank met with the NHL and offered to sell the rights to WHL players to the league for a lump sum, allowing the NHL to quickly stock the expansion teams being set up.<ref name="Whitehead 152"/> This was agreed to, and for $100,000 the Victoria team was transferred to Detroit, (who named themselves the [[Detroit Red Wings|Detroit Cougars]] in recognition).{{efn|They would later be renamed the Falcons, and finally Red Wings.<ref>{{harvnb|Jenish|2013|pp=68–73}}</ref>}}<ref>{{harvnb|Holzman|Nieforth|2002|p=268}}</ref> The Chicago team, later named the [[Chicago Blackhawks|Black Hawks]], also paid $100,000 for players, receiving the [[Portland Rosebuds (ice hockey)|Portland Rosebuds]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jenish|2013|pp=48–49}}</ref> The [[Boston Bruins]], whose owner [[Charles Adams (ice hockey)|Charles Adams]] and manager Art Ross had helped facilitate the sale, also purchased select players, paying a total of $17,000, netting the WHL owners a total of $267,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2015|pp=182–183}}</ref>

In October 1926 Patrick was offered the position of coach with the [[New York Rangers]], another expansion team in the NHL.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|p=160}}</ref> Shortly after he was also named the team's general manager, replacing [[Conn Smythe]].<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=162–163}}</ref> He played one regular season game for the Rangers, on March 20, 1927, serving as a substitute defenceman against the [[New York Americans]].{{Sfn|The Montreal Gazette|1927|p=16}}

He is famous for an incident which occurred on April 7, 1928, during Game 2 of the [[1928 Stanley Cup Finals]] against the [[Montreal Maroons]]. After starting goaltender [[Lorne Chabot]] suffered an eye injury when he was hit by the puck in the middle of the second period, Patrick inserted himself into the game as the Rangers' new netminder, telling the players "Boys, don't let an old man down." At the age of 44 years, 99 days, Patrick remains the oldest man to have played in the Stanley Cup Finals. At the time it was not common for teams to have a backup goaltender, and the opposing team's coach had to allow a substitute goaltender. However, Maroons manager-coach [[Eddie Gerard]] refused to give permission for the Rangers to use [[Alec Connell]], the [[Ottawa Senators (original)|Ottawa Senators]]' netminder who was in the stands, as well as minor-leaguer Hugh McCormick.<ref>{{harvnb|Boucher|Frayne|1973|p=118}}</ref> [[Odie Cleghorn]], the coach of the [[Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL)|Pittsburgh Pirates]], stood in for Patrick as coach for the remainder of the game, and directed the Rangers to check fiercely at mid-ice which limited the Maroon players to long harmless shots. Patrick saved 18 to 19 shots while allowing one goal in helping the Rangers to an overtime victory.<ref>{{harvnb|Boucher|Frayne|1973|pp=118–119}}</ref> For the next three games, the league gave permission for the Rangers to use [[Joseph Anthony Miller|Joe Miller]] from the [[New York Americans]] in goal. The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup, their first in franchise history.<ref>{{harvnb|Anderson|1961|pp=M3–M4}}</ref>

The Rangers played in the [[Stanley Cup Finals]] in [[1929 Stanley Cup Finals|1929]], and again in [[1932 Stanley Cup Finals|1932]], though lost both years.<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2012|pp=238, 244}}</ref> They won a second Stanley Cup championship in [[1933 Stanley Cup Finals|1933]], defeating the [[Toronto Maple Leafs]].<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2012|p=235}}</ref> Patrick coached the team to the Finals once more in [[1937 Stanley Cup Finals|1937]], though they lost.<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2012|p=226}}</ref> He resigned as coach in 1939 and was replaced by [[Frank Boucher]], remaining as general manager of the Rangers and serving as an assistant coach to Boucher.<ref>{{harvnb|Boucher|Frayne|1973|p=158}}</ref>

Patrick won the Cup for the final time in [[1940 Stanley Cup Finals|1940]] when the Rangers, coached by Boucher, defeated Toronto.<ref>{{harvnb|Zweig|2012|p=220}}</ref> However the onset of the [[Second World War]] in 1939 had depleted the Rangers, who saw many players enlist in the armed forces of both Canada and the United States.<ref>{{harvnb|Jenish|2013|p=96}}</ref> This led to tension between Patrick and Boucher, and with the team continuing to lose Patrick resigned as general manager on February 22, 1946, replaced by Boucher, who took on the dual role of coach and general manager.<ref>{{harvnb|Whitehead|1980|pp=235–236}}</ref> He stayed on as vice president of [[Madison Square Garden (1925)|Madison Square Garden]], finally retiring in 1950.<ref>{{harvnb|Boucher|Frayne|1973|p=192}}</ref> Patrick had also briefly assumed an executive position in the NHL in early 1943: league president [[Frank Calder]] collapsed at a board meeting in January, and until his replacement [[Red Dutton]] was able to assume the role in May, Patrick and [[E.W. Bickle]] of Toronto oversaw the league.<ref>{{harvnb|Jenish|2013|pp=96–99}}</ref>