Paddock’s third hall salute just as ‘special’ as the first
Regina Pats general manager John Paddock kept repeating the same word when asked to sum up his latest hall of fame accolade.
“Special,” said Paddock, one of six inductees recognized Sunday by the American Hockey League’s Hershey Bears. He was joined in the class of 2019 by two players who he coached in the late 1980s, Don Biggs and Ross Fitzpatrick.
The trip also gave Paddock an opportunity to catch up with former Pats stars Connor Hobbs and Colby Williams, both of whom played under him in Regina before starting their pro careers with the Bears. Hobbs sent out a tweet of congratulations Sunday, using the hashtags #greatman and #greatcoach.
“I don’t think I’d ever heard the word used so much as the last two days, but it is special,” Paddock said after his visit. “It was a special event. Hershey is a special place to play. I think it’s a premier place to play in the American Hockey League. It always has been.”
Paddock, the club’s bench boss from 1985-86 to 1988-89, is the only coach in franchise history to post four 40-win seasons. The native of Oak River, Man., compiled a 181-122-17 record and sits fourth on the team’s all-time list for coaching wins.
Paddock’s best season at the helm was in 1987-88 when the team posted a 50-25-3-2 record en route to the fourth of his five Calder Cup titles — two as a player, three as a coach.
Paddock was also named the league’s top coach in 1988.
“Any time you win (a championship), it’s that word again — special,” he said.
“It’s not forgotten. We won 50 games that year and we didn’t lose a game in the playoffs (going 120). That put us at another level in people’s eyes.”
Paddock is now a three-time hall of famer, including his induction four years ago into the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. The first one came in 2010 when he was honoured by the AHL after compiling a 590-438-98 record as a head coach, setting league records with 82 playoff wins and 149 playoff games.
Paddock also spent several years in the NHL, including his time as the head coach and GM of the Winnipeg Jets and later as the bench boss of the Ottawa Senators.
At age 65, he’s still going strong in his sixth year with the Pats, earning the WHL coach-of-the-year award in 2015 and 2017 along with top executive honours in 2017.
“You don’t start out playing hockey to get those accolades or have a number on your jersey retired; that happened to me in Maine,” said Paddock, a former player and coach with the AHL’S
Maine Mariners.
“It’s really an honour. When I played junior (with the Brandon Wheat Kings), I didn’t think my career was going to go past that.”
Paddock went on to play 10 pro seasons, including 87 NHL games with the Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers and Quebec Nordiques.
He’s now more than three decades into his career as a coach and manager.
“When you’re trying to battle to play pro and battle to play in the NHL, you go day by day trying to be successful at that,” he added.
“It’s sort of the same as coaching. I’ve been in hockey (as a career) since I was 20 years old. The game has been unbelievable to me. Those honours are icing on the cake.”