Lester Patrick Curtis Lester " The Silver Fox " Patrick ( December 30 , 1883 – June 1 , 1960 ) born in Drummondville , Quebec , Canada . He was a professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats / Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association ( Western Hockey League after 1924 ) , and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League ( NHL ) . Playing career . Lester Patrick was a great rover and defenceman who first came to prominence in 1904 , when he was the star for the Brandon team in the Northwestern and Manitoba Hockey Leagues and became the first defenceman known to score a goal . With Patrick at cover point , Brandon challenged the mighty Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup in that season , but were badly thrashed in the two game - total goal series . He had better success with the famed Montreal Wanderers in the 1906 and 1907 seasons . Scoring 41 goals as a rushing defenceman in just 28 scheduled games while serving as captain of the Redbands , Patrick led them to the Stanley Cup in both seasons . He followed that up by being signed as a high - priced free agent by the Renfrew Creamery Kings in the National Hockey Association ' s first year of operation , by which time Patrick was recognized as one of hockey ' s great stars . The PCHA . The Patricks long had western ties — their father Joe was a major lumber entrepreneur in British Columbia - - and in 1911 Lester and Frank Patrick had their greatest gamble : the formation of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association , backed with Patrick lumber money . Luring away many eastern stars , the PCHA from the start was a prominent force in hockey , and for a decade and a half it would contest ( along with the Western Canada Hockey League in the early 1920s ) the Stanley Cup with its eastern rivals , the NHA and the National Hockey League . Lester himself was the captain and star of the Victoria Aristocrats , winning First Team All - Star accolades three of the five seasons he played for them . The franchise — plagued by small crowds — was moved to Spokane in 1916 , and Patrick achieved his fourth and final First Team All - Star berth . After that season the Canaries were disbanded , and Patrick joined the Stanley Cup champion Seattle Metropolitans . The Aristocrats were revived in 1918 as the Victoria Cougars , and Patrick took over as player - manager . Despite playing in only about half the games , he was named to the Second All - Star team once more before retiring as a player after the 1922 season . New York Rangers ( 1926 - 1946 ) . Patrick is famous for an incident which occurred during the Stanley Cup finals of 1928 . At the age of 44 , while serving as coach and general manager of the Rangers , Patrick inserted himself into a playoff game to play goal against the Montreal Maroons due to an eye injury to starting goaltender Lorne Chabot . Patrick allowed one goal in helping the Rangers to an overtime victory . The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup . He also guided the Rangers to another championship in 1933 . He resigned as coach in 1939 for his one - time great center Frank Boucher and Patrick was again a Stanley Cup winning general manager when Boucher led the Rangers to their last Cup for 54 years in 1940 . He finally retired as general manager in 1946 , but stayed on as vice president of Madison Square Garden , finally exiting in 1950 . Retirement . He donated a trophy to the Western Hockey League , the Lester Patrick Cup , to go to the playoff champions of that league , and the trophy now resides in the Hockey Hall of Fame . Already dying of cancer , Lester died at his Victoria home of a heart attack on June 1 , 1960 , at the age of 76 . Exactly four weeks later , he was followed by his brother Frank , 75 . Frank ' s death was also attributed to a heart attack . He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947 . The Lester Patrick Trophy , awarded for outstanding contributions to hockey in the United States , is named for him . He was also the namesake of the Patrick Division , one of the former divisions of the NHL teams . The Patricks have rightly been dubbed " Hockey ' s Royal Family . " Lester himself was the father of Lynn Patrick and the grandfather of Craig Patrick , both of whom are themselves Honoured Members of the Hockey Hall of Fame . Another son , Muzz Patrick , was a star player and eventually coach and general manager of the Rangers while another grandson , Dick Patrick ( Muzz ' s son ) has been president of the Washington Capitals since 1982 ( he is also a minority owner ) .