The History of the Patrick Division

As I learned about the National Hockey League's classic divisions, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the Patrick Division. One reason is that while the divisions originally had little to nothing to do with geography, the Patrick Division consistently had East Coast franchises, with the exception of one season of the division's existence. The division was named after Lester Patrick, the longtime player and coach for the New York Rangers, who was also credited for a number of innovations that remain in the current NHL today: the blue line, the penalty shot, and tracking assists, among other things.

The four founding members of the Patrick Division were the aforementioned Rangers, the New York Islanders, the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Atlanta Flames. The Rangers were the lone Original Six team in the division, and would remain so for the division's entire 19-year existence. The Flyers were one of the six teams who debuted in 1967, and the Islanders and Flames began play in 1972. This was the original Patrick Division until 1979, when the Washington Capitals became the division's fifth team, coming from the Norris Division.

The Flames remained in the division even after moving to Calgary in 1980, but after the 1980-81 season, the Flames moved to the Smythe Division and were replaced with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 1981-82 season also saw the Norris and Patrick swap conferences, with the Patrick moving from the Campbell Conference to the Wales Conference. Also, beginning with that same season, the Patrick would serve as the NHL's only all-American division.

It didn't take the Patrick long to win a Stanley Cup. The division's first year in 1974-75 saw the defending champion Flyers win the division by 25 points, and they would go on to repeat as champions by defeating the Buffalo Sabres. The Flyers won the Patrick Division during the first three seasons of the format, and it was followed by the Islanders finishing first in back-to-back seasons. The end of the 1970s would serve as the precursor to the Islanders famous run to kick off the 1980s, as they won the decade's first four Stanley Cups and played in the decade's first five Cup Finals. You would think they'd have finished first in the Patrick for all of those years. Turns out, the Islanders finished first in three of those five years (1980-81, 1981-82, and 1983-84).

Of course, the 1981-82 season marked the beginning of the divisional playoff format, with the Islanders winning the first three playoff Patrick Division Championships. It was in the 1982-83 season that the relocated New Jersey Devils (who moved from Denver after playing as the Colorado Rockies) became the Patrick Division's sixth team, giving us the most familiar iteration of the division. After the Islanders' dynasty ended, the Flyers took the Patrick in the 1984-85 season, which also saw them as the first-ever Presidents' Trophy winners. The Flyers knocked out both NY teams (Rangers in the Patrick Semifinals, Islanders in the Patrick Final) to represent the Patrick in the Final Four, but would lose the Cup Final to the Edmonton Oilers. The Flyers won the Patrick two more times, but while 1986 would see them upset by the Rangers (who went on to win the Patrick Final), 1987 saw the Flyers return to the Cup Final, only for the Oilers to beat them again.

The Islanders would win their last regular season Patrick Division title in the 1987-88 season, but that would see the Devils emerge as the playoff champions for the first time. The following year would actually see the Capitals finish first in the Patrick for the first and only time, but they were upset by the fourth place Flyers. The Rangers finished first in the Patrick in the 1989-90 season, but they would fall victim to what was the Capitals' best run at that time. After ousting the Devils in the Patrick Semifinals, the Capitals upset the Rangers in the Patrick Final to reach the Wales Final, where they were dominated by the Boston Bruins.

When the league fully entered the 1990s, it would be the Penguins who would take over that Patrick Division mantle. After missing the 1990 playoffs entirely, the Penguins finished first in the Patrick Division by three points over the Rangers. They would take out the Devils (Patrick Semifinals) and Capitals (Patrick Final) to represent the Patrick in the Wales Final, where they would defeat the Boston Bruins before going on to win their first Stanley Cup in a five-game Final over the Minnesota North Stars. The Rangers would serve as the regular season Patrick champions in the following year, but it would be the Penguins who stood tall at the very end, as they would oust the Capitals (Patrick Semifinals) and Rangers (Patrick Final) as part of their road to their second straight Cup.

The Patrick Division's final season (1992-93) saw the Penguins run away with the Patrick during the regular season, but after defeating the Devils, they were victims of the Islanders' Cinderella run to the Wales Final. After that season, the Patrick Division was renamed the Atlantic Division, though only five of the teams remained together, as the Penguins were placed in the renamed Northeast Division, though the NHL's Florida franchises (Panthers and Lightning) became part of the seven-team Atlantic Division until the divisions were realigned in 1998.

In the 19 years of the Patrick Division's existence, the Flyers racked up the most division titles with eight. The Islanders won six division titles, the Rangers and Penguins each won it twice, and the Capitals only once. As far as the playoff division championships were concerned, the Islanders won the most with four, the Flyers won three, the Penguins won two, and the Rangers, Capitals, and Devils have one each. The Patrick also won seven Stanley Cups, with the Islanders winning four times, the Penguins winning twice, and the Flyers once.

Currently, the Metropolitan Division is the literal counterpart to the Patrick Division. It's actually Patrick 2.0; all six of the same teams are together, along with the Carolina Hurricanes and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Patrick Division was quite gritty, and it increased once the division formed into the iteration we all know. In addition, it was a proud representative of sports in the mid-Atlantic area, as it put a special light into the rivalries between New York City, Pennsylvania, and DC; similar to what we've seen in the National Football Conference's East Division for decades. The Patrick Division rivalries were absolutely epic, and thanks to the NHL's realignment in 2013, we have enjoyed seeing those same six teams in battle it out in the Metropolitan Division every year, with two extra teams sprinkled in.