St. Patrick Loved Hockey! — Sound In Motion Events

#15 Pat Verbeek - The Little Ball Of Hate!

By Adrian Cavlan

It’s true! And that’s why we have hockey games every St. Patrick’s Day!

See what I did there?

And THIS St. Patrick’s Day you can join Sound In Motion and your San Jose Barracuda over at SAP Center for a 7:30pm faceoff against the Stockton Heat. Tickets may still be available here: www.sjbarracuda.com

As you prepare to don the teal and represent at The Tank, here’s some more hockey-related St. Patrick’s Day fun for you to chew on (between bites of corned beef & cabbage, of course!): Famous Patricks in NHL history include Hall Of Fame goalie Patrick Roy, Hall Of Fame forward Pat Lafontaine, Blackhawks star Patrick Kane, stalwart Sharks center Patrick Marleau and of course we can’t forget the San Jose franchise’s first-ever draft pick (in 1991), Pat Falloon. Then there was famed pig farmer and right winger Pat Verbeek, nicknamed “The Little Ball Of Hate”, who once had his thumb cut off but still didn’t miss a regular season game! One of the greatest rivalries in hockey is certainly that between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues. One happy, peaceful St. Patrick’s Day back in 1991, this happened:

Perhaps the defining moment in that same season came in a brawl during the Blackhawks' 6–4 win over the Blues on March 17, 1991.The game became known as the "St. Patrick's Day Massacre" for the massive amount of fighting and penalties handed out to both teams. Twelve players, six on each team, were ejected, while there was a total of 278 penalty minutes. After reviewing the tapes, the NHL suspended Blues defenseman Scott Stevens for two games, and Hawks Mike Peluso and Blues Kelly Chase each for 10 games and fined both teams $10,000 each.

Hell, hockey likes the name so much that they even named a whole division after it!

The Patrick Division of the National Hockey League (NHL) was formed in 1974 as part of the Clarence Campbell Conference. The division moved to the Prince of Wales Conference in 1981. The division existed for 19 seasons until 1993. It was named in honor of Lester Patrick, player and longtime coach of the New York Rangers, who was a developer of ice hockey. It is the forerunner of the NHL's Atlantic Division. So, get out there and have some fun! And - PLEASE be responsible and safe about it though so we can have you hanging around the rink with us for many years to come : )