Patrick Flatley

Patrick Flatley (born October 3, 1963 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a retired professional forward who played in the NHL for 14 seasons between 1983 and 1997 for the New York Islanders and New York Rangers.

Playing career
Flatley was drafted 21st overall by the New York Islanders in the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. Picking up where he left off on The Canadian National Team in 1983–84, where he scored 31 goals in 57 games, Flatley had a sensational rookie playoff campaign. Put on a line with Brent Sutter and Clark Gillies, Flatley scored 9 goals through the first three rounds of the playoffs and was a big contributor in the Islanders drive for their fifth consecutive Stanley Cup. However, the Islanders lost in the finals to the Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers. Flatley never got another chance to play in the Cup final.

Although he never emerged as a top scorer, Flatley did become a highly effective role player, adding smart positional play, strong defense, and grit to the Islanders teams in the late 1980s and 1990s. Flatley was sometimes referred to as "the chairman of the boards" because he rarely failed to dig the puck out in battles in the corners. In 1991 he was named the Islanders' fifth captain.

He played 780 career NHL games, scoring 170 goals and 340 assists for 510 points. His best offensive season, pointswise, was the 1992–93 season when he scored 47 assists and 60 points.

Collegiate career
Flatley was a member of the University of Wisconsin-Madison NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship team of 1983, and national finalist of 1982.

Career statistics
--- Regular Season ---  Playoffs Season  Team                        Lge    GP    G    A  Pts  PIM  GP   G   A Pts PIM -- 1981-82 U. of Wisconsin             NCAA   33   17   20   37   65 1982-83 U. of Wisconsin             NCAA   43   25   44   69   76 1983-84 New York Islanders          NHL    16    2    7    9    6  21   9   6  15  14 1983-84 Canadian National Team      Intl   64   34   20   54  206 1984-85 New York Islanders          NHL    78   20   31   51  106   4   1   0   1   6 1985-86 New York Islanders          NHL    73   18   34   52   66   3   0   0   0  21 1986-87 New York Islanders          NHL    63   16   35   51   81  11   3   2   5   6 1987-88 New York Islanders          NHL    40    9   15   24   28  --  --  --  --  -- 1988-89 Springfield Indians         AHL     2    1    1    2    2  --  --  --  --  -- 1988-89 New York Islanders          NHL    41   10   15   25   31  --  --  --  --  -- 1989-90 New York Islanders          NHL    62   17   32   49  101   5   3   0   3   2 1990-91 New York Islanders          NHL    56   20   25   45   74  --  --  --  --  -- 1991-92 New York Islanders          NHL    38    8   28   36   31  --  --  --  --  -- 1992-93 New York Islanders          NHL    80   13   47   60   63  15   2   7   9  12 1993-94 New York Islanders          NHL    64   12   30   42   40  --  --  --  --  -- 1994-95 New York Islanders          NHL    45    7   20   27   12  --  --  --  --  -- 1995-96 New York Islanders          NHL    56    8    9   17   21  --  --  --  --  -- 1996-97 New York Rangers            NHL    68   10   12   22   26  11   0   0   0  14 --        NHL Totals                        780  170  340  510  686  70  18  15  33  75