One of only three former Clarkson Hockey players to have his retired sweater hanging in honorary display from the rafters at Cheel Arena, Colin Patterson was an all-star forward for the Golden Knights in the early 1980s who went on to a lengthy, productive career in the National Hockey League.
A three-year standout for Clarkson from 1980-83, the Rexdale, Ontario native ranks among the Green and Gold all-time leading scorers with an average of 1.55 points per game. Patterson amassed 64 goals and 91 assists through 100 games with the Knights. With the 6-2, 190-pound right wing/center playing a key role on the Knights’ top lines, head coach Bill O’Flaherty’s teams compiled a 71-26-6 record during Patterson’s three seasons wearing the Clarkson sweater, and twice won the ECAC regular season title and competed in two NCAA Tournaments.
In his final season with the Knights, 1982-83, Patterson served as one of the few junior captains in Clarkson’s history and gained ECAC All-Star and All-America recognition. He scored 20 or more goals and over 50 points in each of his three collegiate seasons and completed his Clarkson career by leading the Knights in scoring with his second straight 52-point campaign on 23 goals and 29 assists in 31 games.
After the completion of his junior campaign, Patterson signed a free-agent contract with the Calgary Flames on March 24, 1983 and began a highly successful nine-year career in the NHL that also included a two-year stretch with the Buffalo Sabres.
During the mid to late 1980s Calgary was an NHL super power. One of the most unheralded yet most valuable players from those teams was Patterson. He combined speed and anticipation to establish himself as one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards. A tremendous fore checker who would sacrifice his body without thought, Patterson was a hard worker and dedicated athlete. He was also a character in the locker room, always cracking jokes to keep his team loose.
After a brief 13-game, minor-league stint with the Colorado Flames of the Central Hockey League, Patterson joined Calgary on a regular basis in 1983-84. After being recalled to the NHL Flames on October 23, 1983, he scored his first NHL goal three days later at St. Louis. In his first home game that season at Calgary’s Saddledome, Patterson scored twice in a Flames win. In his first NHL season, he scored 13 goals and 27 points in 56 games. In seven seasons (1983-90) with the Flames, he tallied 188 points on 88 goals and 100 assists through 416 games and played in two Stanley Cup finals.
In Calgary’s championship 1988-89 season, Patterson established a career-high 24 assists and totaled 38 points during the regular season and was a solid performer for the club in the postseason. In 22 playoff games he totaled 13 points and helped the Flames to the Stanley Cup championship when they defeated Montreal 4-2 in the best-of-seven-game series. Patterson capped off that sensational season by being named a finalist for the Frank Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best-defensive forward.
The Flames dealt Patterson, who suffered a knee injury in 1989, to Buffalo where he finished out his career by playing the next two seasons from 1991-93. Patterson left the NHL with career totals of 96 goals, 109 assists and 205 points in 504 regular season games. In 85 playoff contests, he had 29 points and one championship ring.
At the urging of O’Flaherty and former Clarkson assistant coach Terry Meagher, who supported his decision to leave the University after his junior season, Patterson returned to Potsdam for three straight summers to resume school work towards his bachelor’s degree. After the completion of a grueling 80-game NHL campaign, the hard work in the classroom during the dog days of summer paid off for Patterson, who received his bachelor degree in business on May 18, 1986, as he was skating for Calgary against Montreal in his first Stanley Cup finals.
Colin Patterson accepts his Athletic Hall of Fame plaque from Clarkson AD Sean T. Frazier
