Joe Paterson: Q&A

  First post in a long time, but I have a very good reason for returning to the blog.  Former NHLer Joe Paterson reached out to me after reading my post about him.  On a past post, I highlighted Joe Paterson's career, and made up a rookie card of him as a Los Angeles King.  I mentioned in the post I didn't make a Red Wings card since I couldn't find any Red Wings pictures of him.  He contacted me and offered to send a few pictures.  I did up a few Red Wings cards for him and he was also gracious enough to answer some questions, and sent some pictures for the Blog.  


Cardboard & Me: What is your earliest hockey memory?

Joe Paterson: We played pond hockey , on the street with skates on and at the school all out door hockey.

C&M: Growing up, who was your favorite team or player? 

Joe Paterson: Toronto Maple Leafs was favorite team & #8 Jim Dorey favorite player (LD) for the Leafs

A young Joe Paterson on the left

C&M Did you collect Hockey cards when you a child or teenager?  Did you have a favorite set or card?  If you didn't collect hockey cards, was there something else you collected?

Joe Paterson: Yes, we collected hockey cards and would make trades and put them on our bikes to make noise with the spokes! (and I wish I still had them)  My favorite cards were action cards and not the head shots unless it was a Gordie Howe card. 

C&M: You were drafted in the 5th round by the Red Wings in 1979.  Draft day was a lot different back then.  What were your expectations heading into the draft?

Joe Paterson: Not even sure I would get drafted.

C&M: How did you find out you were drafted?

Joe Paterson: Teams would call you the next day after the draft!

C&M: How was your that first game?  Any memories that really stick out?

Joe Paterson: Can’t remember first game but I remember first NHL training camp was so fast and a blur! 

C&M: What was it like playing for Mike Keenan?   Did he have any influence on your coaching style?

Joe Paterson: Mike Keenan was tough but I enjoyed playing for him! He really held his players accountable, if you didn’t have a good first shift or not ready to play! He sat you! Star players had a little longer leash. 

C&M: Points wise, you had the most success run of your NHL career playing on a line with Marcel Dionne and Dave Taylor.  What has it like getting a chance to be on a line with two future HHOfers? 

Joe Paterson:  Playing with Taylor & Dionne was the best, both first class guys who treated me real well!  I liked that Dionne always talked to me on the ice on the bench & we roomed together on the road!  He would tell me to let him carry the puck from the d-zone and through the neutral zone 

& go to the net with my stick on the ice ! He’s underrated and at the time just the one team in the west !

C&M: You made an appearance on the sitcom "Who's the Boss", how did that opportunity come about?

Joe Paterson: 😂 That was fun ! Tony Danza was a huge hockey fan and played baseball with player agent Ron Salcer -so Ron asked us as the show was about hockey . Fun time to be on the set for a week!

C&M: Compared to your first NHL game, how were the nerves taping the show?  

Joe Paterson: The show is done twice - in front of a live audience at the end of the week on a Friday - they record both shows then splice and put the best one together! We really didn’t have a lot of lines & Tony Danza is a real character.  Great person who made us laugh. One episode takes a week to do produce!

  (The Who's the Boss episode was S4E3, and titled "There Goes the Bride".  Joe Paterson and Dave Taylor are part of the scene starting at 10:00 mark. It was previously available online but has since been taken down)

Joe, Moana, and Dave

C&M: Who are some players you played with or against that are underrated and deserves more recognition?   Any minor leaguers that you were surprised they didn't become a NHL regular?

Joe Paterson: Marcel Dionne. He deserves more!! What a great player & a small guy playing in a big league  (in terms of the size of players) and now you can’t hook and hold and box guys out like back when he played, it's a penalty. 

C&M: After your playing career, you have been a coach and also a scout.   At what point in your career, did you start thinking about being a coach?  How was the transition to being behind the bench?

Joe Paterson: Toward the end of my career as an older player in the minors I enjoyed sharing experience with the young guys ! 

C&M: Out of all the jerseys, you wore in the NHL and minors, or also coached, which ones stick out as the best and worst?

Joe Paterson: All the sweaters are great , but my first sweater with the Detroit red Wings, being original 6 team and the history ! It was such an honor to put the sweater on.

Joe Paterson wearing the Red Wings Jersey.

C&M: You never had an official NHL rookie card.  Was this something you were aware of, or looked for, while playing?

Joe Paterson: Yes I knew I never had a card & always wanted one!

C&M: Did you keep any memorabilia from your career?  if so, what are some of the items you kept?

Joe Paterson: I still have a puck collection from when I was a kid & would add to it 100 -150 pucks. And a Gretzky stick ! Most of my sweaters from the teams I played with! 

C&M: Do you get many requests for autographs through the mail?  An approximate number per month or year?  What are some of the memorable items fans have mailed you? 

Joe Paterson: I maybe get one or two cards a month in the mail to sign or a puck! 

_____

Currently, Joe is an assistant coach for the Adirondack Junior Thunder in the Eastern Hockey League Premier.  Outside of the rink, he keeps busy by playing pond hockey and painting.  

I am always pleasantly surprised when I see one of my custom cards pop up in a Facebook group or when someone actually comment show they enjoyed the blog on one of those posts. Although to have an ex-NHLer reach out is real honour.  Thank you Mr. Paterson.

Lost Rookies: Frank Caprice - with Q&A

  Frank Caprice played 102 NHL games over six NHL seasons, all with the Vancouver Canucks.  Caprice spent the majority of his career as a back-up, battling incumbent "King" Richard Broduer and injuries during his tenure with the Vancouver Canucks.  While Frank was never able to secure the starting job to himself, he still had a remarkable career and some great achievements.
  Prior to the 1982 World Junior Hockey Championship, Canada had never won a gold medal in that tournament, but Team Canada, led by the goaltending duo of Mike Moffat and Frank Caprice, secured the nation's first ever World Junior Hockey Gold Medal.  Frank was 3-0 with only 7 goals allowed in his starts.  Going into the tournament an underdog, not even expected to medal, Team Canada rolled over the competition, going 6-0-1 in seven games.  It was the first year of Canada's Program of Excellence and it paid immediate dividends. 
  Frank Caprice would also be a underdog in his first career start in the NHL, versus the Edmonton Oilers, shown live on Hockey Night in Canada.  The 1983-84 Edmonton Oilers, who would set a NHL record by scoring 446 goals that season, could only put two pucks past Frank Caprice.  The Canucks would win 3-2 and Caprice would earn the First Star of the Game.  Later in the same season, he would earn his first career shutout in a 5-0 victory against the Hartford Whalers.

     While Caprice would battle Richard Brodeur for starts, he would battle John Garrett for a spot in the OPC card sets.  John Garrett would win out in the 84-85 OPC Set, with one of the better looking cards in the set, and also in 1985-86, with one of the worst looking cards in the set.  Seriously, Garrett went 1-5 with a 6.49 GAA in the season before and then retired to boot.  Although 1988-89 OPC was a low point for Vancouver Canuck goalies, as no Canuck goalies made the set that season.
  The Cauncks would trade Caprice to the Boston Bruins at the 1989 NHL Entry draft.  After one more season, Frank would retire from hockey.  But only for a few seasons, before restarting his career in Europe.  He would play several more seasons in Italy and Britain before retiring from professional hockey for good.  
  When I realized Frank Caprice never had a rookie card, I decided to make a custom rookie card of him.  Below is how Frank Caprice's rookie should have looked.
 

1984-85 OPC #399 - Frank Caprice

  So what did Frank Caprice think of his new rookie card?

Frank Caprice: Thank you for your kind letter and for the card, I actually don't have any cards and its great to now have one as a keep sake.

The Cardboard & Me:  You were part of the first team under Canada’s Program of Excellence to compete at the WJC.  What were the expectations for the team? 

Frank Caprice:  We did not have any expectations as it was a new program.  We all wanted to prove ourselves but did not know what to expect or what the level of competition would be,

C&M:  Today, the selection camp for the WJC team is heavily covered by the media.  TSN will even show the highlights of practice scrimmages on sportscenter.  What kind of media coverage was there on the team before the tournament in 1982? 

Frank Caprice:  We had almost no media coverage, in fact there is almost no footage of any of our games.  The gold medal game was played in a small arena far from the city center and I think we had just one reporter following us the entire time, including the gold medal game.

C&M:  Today, by the time players make it to the WJC, they are already familiar with a lot of the other teams through previous international experience or playing as opponents or teammates in junior.  How much did you know about your opponents leading into the tournament?

Frank Caprice:  Me personally, not one thing, just that the Russians were to be feared along with the Swedes the Czechs and the Fins.  We were very much underdogs.

C&M:  With a gold medal on the line, and the game being played in Rochester, Minnesota, (a 7 hour drive from Canada) can you describe the atmosphere in the building? 

Frank Caprice:  The games was played in a small dim lighted arena, the atmosphere was not much of a factor, not really different than any other game in fact. We were so pumped as a team and just really focused on the job at hand, the Gold medal, which was passed around the room before the game.  We all had a chance to see it and touch it, from that point on, that's all we could think of, just win or tie this game and it was ours. The Czechs were the best team we faced and it was a huge task. In the end, we won the Gold and when I look back, we had a extremely talented and great team, with a great coach. I only have very happy and wonderful memories.

C&M:  What is your strongest memory from the Gold medal game?

Frank Caprice:  The last 5 minutes the Czechs were all over us and the end when we won and all sang the national anthem because they did not even have the anthem to play over the sound system.

C&M:  Is there a game in particular from your NHL career that stands out the most, and why that game?

Frank Caprice:  My first ever game against the Edmonton Oilers, the Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr era.  We won 3 - 2 and I got first star.

C&M:  The “Flying V” jersey of the Canucks is on almost every internet list of 10 worst NHL jerseys.  Was it the worst jersey you ever had to wear in your professional career? 

Frank Caprice:  Tough question, I would say the most boring jersey was the Maine Mariners.

C&M:  You played several years overseas in Italy and Britain.  Can you compare the experience of playing in Italy as opposed to playing in the NHL.

Frank Caprice:  I loved my time in Europe, it was a wonderful experience, I have nothing but the fondest of memories. I was treated so very well in Italy. It was more about the lifestyle than it was about the game. Dont get me wrong, the people were very passionate about their teams, but it was the culture that I fell in love with.

C&M:  Did you have a favourite teammate? 

Frank Caprice:  Favorite teammate was Cam Neely, we lived together and roomed together on the road.  We became close friends.

C&M:  Who was your favourite team and player while growing up? 

Frank Caprice:  Did not have one, just loved all the goalies.

C&M:  Did you collect hockey cards?  Do you have a favourite set or card? 

Frank Caprice:  Nope never did.

C&M:  You never had a hockey card during your playing days.  Would you check each year to see if you had a card?


Frank Caprice:  Nope, the only one I had was the shell gas station card


C&M:  Do you have a favourite piece of hockey memorabilia? 

Frank Caprice:  My gold medal and my Italian all star jersey.

C&M:  Do you get many autograph requests through the mail? 

Frank Caprice:  Yes, still do, and its humbling and flattering.  I get about 5 or 6 a year


C&M:  What have you been doing since you retired from hockey? 

Frank Caprice:  I have worked with the provincial government of Ontario, for the Ontario Lottery and Gaming as a senior manager of corporate compliance, I am in my 13th year.

The Forgotten: Brad Fast (with Q&A)

Multiple choice question.  Who has the higher goals per game average for their NHL career?  a) Wayne Gretzky; b) Mike Bossy; c) Steven Stamkos; or d) Brad Fast.  If you answered Brad Fast, then you are correct.  Of course you answered Brad Fast, since you already read who this post is about... you cheater.

  A 3rd round pick in the 1999 draft, Brad Fast made his NHL debut with the Carolina Hurricanes in the final game of the 2003-04 season.  With 2:26 left in the 3rd period, and the Hurricanes losing 6-5 to the Florida Panthers, Brad Fast scored his first and only goal of his NHL career.  It was also the last game-tying goal scored in the history of the NHL, as the NHL would switch to the shoot-out in it's next season following the 2004-05 lockout.
   Brad Fast would spend 2004-05 in the AHL before signing with the Los Angeles Kings for the 2005-06 season.  After a season with the King's AHL affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs, Fast played a few seasons in Europe.  He finished his pro career with three seasons with Anyang Halla, of the Asia League Ice Hockey.   He never did get a chance to play in the NHL again.  Fast retired from professional hockey in 2011.
  In researching the career of Brad Fast, I was able to contact him and he kindly agreed to answer some questions regarding his career.