Larry Patey played most of his young career in Mississauga, first in the Port Credit Hockey Association and later with the Metro Junior B Dixie Beehives. It was with the Beehives in March of 1971 that Patey suffered a near fatal accident during the Metro Junior B final against the Markham Waxers that Dixie would eventually go on to win in five games.

     Hammered into the boards by 6-foot-6 defenceman Bob Dailey, Patey slumped to the ice. While trying to get up, Patey’s teammate Rick Cornacchia took on Dailey in a tussle and the ensuing melee, Patey was caught in the face by a skate blade.

     From that horrific evening, Patey went on to recovery and a long and successful 12-year National Hockey League career as a centreman. After leading the Western League in scoring while with Sault Lake City Golden Eagles where he was voted Rookie of the Year, Patey was soon called up to the now defunct California Golden Seals. Later, Patey was traded to the St. Louis Blues in the 1975-’76 season for Wayne Merrick. He concluded his NHL career with New York Rangers, forced to retire because of lower back injury.

     A workaholic on the ice throughout his career, Patey later applied the same hard work ethic in real estate. After being in the business for four years, he earned President’s Club Honours as one of the Gundaker Better Homes and Gardens in St. Louis.

     While Patey had his most productive season offensively for California in 1974-’75 when he scored 25 goals to go along with 20 assists, it was during his stay with the Blues that the seventh-round draft choice drew attention for his strong two-way play.

     “St. Louis didn’t care how many goals I scored. They had Red Berenson, Derek Sanderson and Gary Unger up front to do that. They wanted me to play defensively and aggressively,” he explained.

     Patey combined defensive and aggressive skills to set a St. Louis club record for most shorthanded goals in a season and was always called upon to line up against the NHL big shooters, such as Bryan Trottier, Bobby Clarke and Phil Esposito.

     “I enjoyed doing it because there was less pressure in having to score goals and I took a lot of pride in my role,” he said.

     Living the life as a “shadow,” Patey did manage to score 153 goals in his 12 year professional career before retiring after the 1984-’85 season.