Nolan Patrick

Nolan Patrick (born September 19, 1998) is a Canadian ice hockey player who currently serves as captain of the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL).

Junior Playing Career
Prior to joining the Western Hockey League, Nolan recorded 75 points in 19 games for the Winnipeg Hawks of the AAA Bantam Hockey League Division 1 during its 2012-13 season. He missed nearly half of the season due to a shoulder injury, but nonetheless was regarded as a highly-touted prospect.

Nolan was selected by the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL in 1st round (4th overall) in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft. In December 2013, during the midst of the Wheat Kings' 2013–14 season, a high number of injuries to the roster caused him to be called up from the Midget AAA Winnipeg Thrashers.

Nolan was initially unavailable upon being called up due to a shoulder injury, and did not play during the call-up. He eventually played three games with the Wheat Kings at the conclusion of his Winnipeg Thrashers' season.

Nolan began his rookie season in the 2014–15 season, where he scored 30 goals and 56 points in 55 games. Between mid-February and mid-March 2015, he missed 12 games with an upper-body injury, although initial reports were that it was a lower-body injury. He was subsequently awarded the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s rookie of the year despite missing a total of 17 games that season.

During the 2015–16 season, Nolan finished fifth in league scoring and was the first 17-year old Wheat King to score over 100 points since 1976-77. He played an integral part in winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup, leading all players in post-season points and was named the WHL Playoff MVP.

After the season, it was revealed that Nolan had suffered a sports hernia injury on April 27, 2016 during Game 4 of the WHL's Eastern Conference Final series against the Red Deer Rebels and had played through the WHL Finals and 2016 Memorial Cup with the injury. Following the 2015-16 campaign, he received sports hernia surgery.

For the 2016–17 season season, Nolan was named captain of the Wheat Kings. Beginning the season, Patrick was widely considered the top prospect of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Dan Marr, NHL director of Central Scouting said that Nolan is "as complete an NHL package as you are going to find. From his pedigree, his skills, and assets, to his performance impact to date, he has everything any NHL team is looking for in a top prospect."

However, after playing six games to begin the season, the Wheat Kings announced on October 14, 2016 that Nolan had once again been sidelined with an upper-body injury. Despite initially being diagnosed as day-to-day, the injury continued through November, when it was revealed to be a complication of the previous season's sports hernia injury.

On December 5, 2016, Hockey Canada announced that Nolan had not been medically cleared to participate in Team Canada's 2017 World Junior training camp and thus would not play in the 2017 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships.

Despite missing 35 regular season games and all four playoff games due to injuries, Patrick was ranked the No. 1 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting. Dan Marr stated "He has more than proven over the last three years that he is the real deal and he will be an impact NHL player".

Personal Life
Nolan comes from two athletic families.

On his paternal side, his father Steve Patrick played 250 games in the NHL, his uncle James Patrick is a former NHL defenceman & current Dallas Stars assistant coach, and his grandfather Stephen Patrick played football for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers & later became a politician.

On his maternal side, Nolan's mother Carrie Patrick played volleyball for the University of Winnipeg Wesmen & Team Canada and his uncle Rich Chernomaz is a former NHL player who currently coaches in Germany & Hungary.

Nolan's two sisters also play hockey; his older sister Madison plays for the University of British Columbia and his younger sister Aimee plays minor bantam in Winnipeg.

Nolan never had a favorite NHL team growing up, although he follows the Dallas Stars to support his uncle.