Prospective No. 1 has pedigree
NHL DRAFT: Family ties as important as pro career to top centreman Nolan Patrick
It’s the middle of May and the Patrick family is together at home in Winnipeg, enjoying some of the little things in life like music, food and good conversation.
Stephen and Carrie Patrick’s 18-year-old son Nolan is cooking for the family.
He’s making goose poppers, which are made with goose, wrapped in bacon, and topped with peppers and cheese.
Nolan’s sisters Maddie, 20, and Aimee, 14, are also home, a rarity in a family full of hockey players.
“No one is talking hockey,” says Stephen, who played eight seasons in the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques.
“Everyone’s around the house and we’re horsing around and having fun. We live our lives every day. Hockey’s not always front and centre.”
It can’t be easy for that to be true for Nolan, the Brandon Wheat Kings star centre, who is the top-ranked North American skater for Friday’s NHL draft in Chicago.
Nolan may or may not go first overall to the New Jersey Devils (Switzerland’s Nico Hischier of the Halifax Mooseheads could go No. 1), but if he doesn’t, he’ll likely go second to the Philadelphia Flyers.
He’s been talked about as a potential first overall pick for more than two years now and he’s had to live with all the pressure, scrutiny and attention that involves, not to mention some ill-timed injuries.
It’s one of the reasons why the Patricks keep things light at home.
“We’re not making a big deal of it,” Stephen says. “My 14-year-old made the prep team for next year at St. Mary’s Academy, so that’s big news. My 20-year-old played in the CIS championship (for the UBC Thunderbirds), so that’s good news. (The draft) is very much on the down low.”
It’s not like any of the attention Nolan is drawing is new for the Patrick family. It’s just a little different. Nolan’s grandfather Steve was an all-star offensive lineman with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 1952-1964. His dad, Stephen, was drafted 20th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1980, and his uncle James went ninth overall to the New York Rangers in 1981 before playing 21 seasons as an NHL defenceman.
Times have changed considerably since Stephen and James were NHL prospects.
For instance, Stephen was outside mowing the lawn when he got a call from his friend Dave McDonald (son of former Jets captain Ab McDonald), telling him he had been drafted by the Sabres.
“He heard it on CJOB (radio) and he called me and told me,” Stephen says. “Then someone from the team called me.
“There was no hype. It wasn’t less than now. It was none. It’s not like my dad took the day off work to sit around the house waiting to find out.” James, who spent the last 11 years as an assistant coach in the NHL and is now the head coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice, had a similar experience.
“It was so low key compared to now,” James said.
“I didn’t even know it was my draft year until Christmas of that year. The NHL dropped the draft age that year. I was playing Tier II junior in Prince Albert and I had no idea a scout even watched me.
“Now it’s constant fan attention and constant media attention and I find it way harder on a lot of players now. There are some kids who are naturally comfortable with attention and there are shy kids who aren’t and I know I would find it really hard to keep focused.”
Nolan has handled it well, largely thanks to having a family that prides itself on staying grounded.
“I’m just excited to get it over with,” Nolan says of Friday’s first round of the draft.
The athletic genes run strong in Nolan’s family. His mom Carrie was a university volleyball player, as was his aunt Tara Patrick. Carrie’s brother Rich Chernomaz was a professional hockey player and coach.
With the influence of his dad and uncle in the mix, it’s no surprise Nolan excelled at hockey.
The 6-foot-2, 198-pound centre scored 92 goals and 205 points in 163 WHL games over the last three seasons.
“I learned a lot about being a person from my dad, too,” Nolan says. “He’s an awesome guy and humble in the way he carries himself and the father he is around the house.”
The last year has been difficult for Nolan.
He scored 41 goals and 102 points in 2015-16 and added 13 goals and 30 points in 21 playoff games while leading the Wheat Kings to the league championship and an appearance in the Memorial Cup.
But the 105-game season took its toll and Nolan was injured for much of 2016-17.
He missed a chance to play for Canada at the world junior championship and played in only 33 regular season games for the Wheat Kings.
Earlier this month, he revealed that he had two surgeries for sports hernias, an injury that has caused prolonged problems for many an NHL player.
He says he’s feeling fine now and whichever team that drafts him will be getting a solid two-way centreman.