Patrick is famous for an incident which occurred during the Stanley Cup finals of 1928. At the age of 44 years, 3 months, 9 days, while serving as coach and general manager of the Rangers, Patrick inserted himself into the April 8 playoff game to play goal against the Montreal Maroons, when starting goaltender Lorne Chabot suffered an eye injury after being hit by the puck in the second period. This is a record for the oldest goalie to play in the Stanley Cup Finals that still stands today. At the time it was not common for teams to have a backup goaltender, and the opposing team's coach had to allow a substitute goaltender. However the Maroon's manager-coach Eddie Gerard refused to give permission for the Rangers to use Alec Connell, the Ottawa Senator's star netminder who was in the stands, as well as minor-leaguer Hugh McCormick. Odie Cleghorn, the then-coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates, stood in for Patrick as coach for the remainder of the game, and directed the Rangers to check fiercely at mid-ice which limited the Maroon players to long harmless shots. Patrick saved 18 to 19 shots while allowing one goal in helping the Rangers to an overtime victory. For the next three games, the league gave permission for the Rangers to use Joe Miller from the New York Americans in goal. The Rangers went on to win the Stanley Cup.