The Lester Patrick Trophy

In 1956, the NHL proposed a trophy in Lester Patrick’s name to go to the most valuable player of the all-star game. However, according to a Toronto Star story at the time, New York Rangers president John Reed Kilpatrick “felt that a Lester Patrick trophy rated a far greater stature and vetoed this plan.” 

It wasn’t until eight years later — and four years after Lester’s death — that they figured out another way to honour him. In October 1964, it was announced that a prize would be created to recognize “a player or club official for outstanding services to hockey in the United States.” 

This was appropriate since Lester spent more than 20 years as coach and/or general manager of the Rangers, and prior to that, co-founded the Pacific Coast Hockey Association that brought professional hockey to Seattle, Portland, and Spokane. (In 1917, Seattle also became the first American team to win the Stanley Cup.) 

On p. 181 of The Patricks: Hockey’s Royal Family, Eric Whitehead also quotes Bill Chadwick, the first American official in NHL: “There were some hangups about Americans in the NHL in those days, but not with Lester. He seemed to have a special appreciation for an American in a Canadian game, and always went out of his way to help him.”

However, Lester once expressed doubts about American-born players, whom he felt were at a disadvantage to Canadians who grew up in a better climate. “The Canadian lad takes to skating as naturally as the American youngster takes to baseball or bootlegging,” he quipped in the Edmonton Journal of Nov. 3, 1932. He also said that Canadians skated from the hips, and Americans from the knees.

A six-member committee was appointed to pick the inaugural Lester Patrick Trophy recipient: Springfield Indians owner Eddie Shore (who received the award himself in 1970), Rangers president Bill Jennings (who received the award in 1971), league president Clarence Campbell (who received the award in 1972), New York Herald Tribune columnist Red Smith, Associated Press writer Ben Olan, and ABC sports vice-president Roone Arledge.

The first winner was revealed in December 1965: longtime Detroit coach and general manager Jack Adams.

The Lester Patrick Award has appeared on at least two hockey cards: left, from the Legends of Hockey set (1994) and right, from Pro Set (1990-91).

The award has since been given to another 140 individuals, including one woman (Cammi Granato), and three teams (the 1960 and 1980 US Olympic men’s teams and the 1998 US Olympic women’s team). It has been presented posthumously 19 times. In most years there have been multiple recipients, including five in 2006, and four in each of 1972, 1978, 1989, 1993, 1998, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2011, although since 2018 there has only been one per year. Recipients have included players, coaches, executives, referees, and members of the media. 

What’s especially interesting is that three of Lester’s descendants have been recipients, including his son Lynn (1989, posthumously, as a player), grandson Craig (2000, as an executive), and grandson Dick (2012, as an executive). Below is a video of Dick Patrick talking about what it felt like to win the award named for his grandfather.

A TV show made in 2008 about Lester’s Stanley Cup goaltending turn in 1928 interviewed three winners of the award: Craig Patrick, writer/broadcaster Stan Fischler, and former Rangers PR man John Halligan. Halligan said there was “not a higher honour for a non-player,” while Fischler called it “the high point in my life, because [Lester] got me interested in the game.”

Below I have cued up the portion of the show that discusses the award.

The Hockey Hall of Fame regards the award as a “non-NHL trophy” because it can be awarded to people outside the league. The first recipient without any direct NHL connection was AHL executive John B. Sollenberger in 1971, although some earlier recipients were honoured primarily for contributions unrelated to the NHL.

Today recipients are chosen by a committee that includes the NHL commissioner, a league governor, members of the Hockey Hall of Fame player and builder sections, and representatives of the New York Rangers, US Hockey Hall of Fame, NHL Broadcasters Association, and Professional Hockey Writers Association, all of whom are rotated annually except for the commissioner. 

Wikipedia indicates the award is now presented by both the NHL and USA Hockey. 

The actual Lester Patrick Trophy is a statue of Lester on skates, holding a stick, and pointing his left hand. The statue stands three feet, two inches, and was created by Princeton University sculptor Joe Brown, who specialized in athletes. Combined with its base, it appears to be at least seven tall. The original lives in the Hockey Hall of Fame and the original plaque reads:

THE LESTER PATRICK TROPHY

For outstanding service to hockey in the

United States of America

Presented by the New York Rangers in fond memory

Of a great man in the history

Of a great sport

Recipients’ names are added on individual plaques and recipients are presented with 11-inch tall miniatures of the trophy. In December 2024, Craig Patrick put his miniature on the auction block. It fetched $1,378 US ($1,977 Cdn). Lou Vairo, a 2000 recipient, also auctioned his in 2022 for $528 US ($759 Cdn), and Art Berglund, a 1992 recipient, sold his at some point for $2,640 US ($3,796 Cdn)!

Detroit Red Wings general manager Ned Harkness (left) admires the Lester Patrick Trophy with three 1972 recipients: Boston College coach John (Snooks) Kelley, NHL president Clarence Campbell, and Harvard coach Ralph Weiland. (United Press International)

Updated on Jan. 19, 2025 to add the video of Dick Patrick. Updated on Jan. 24, 2025 to add the other video. Updated on Jan. 26, 2025 to add the photo of the 1972 award recipients. Updated on Jan. 27, 2025 to add the quotes from Bill Chadwick and from Lester about American players.