To say hockey runs through Aimee Patrick's family is an understatement. Between her family's success and her own scoring ability, Patrick has become a highly-touted prospect for the Bisons women's hockey team this upcoming season.
 
"She kind of flew under the radar and then once teams started perking their ears up it was too late because she already committed, so I feel pretty good about that," said women's hockey head coach Jon Rempel.
 
Patrick's father Steve played 250 NHL games from 1980­–1986. Her uncle James racked up 1,280 NHL games over 21 seasons and is now the head coach of the Winnipeg ICE (WHL). Her uncle Rich (Chernomaz) played over 900 professional hockey games, and her brother Nolan is currently on the Philadelphia Flyers.
 
All four men were first-round NHL draft picks, Nolan going second overall.
 
"I've never felt too much pressure," said Patrick, 17, about her family's legacy. "My family has always been super supportive of what I want to do and it was ultimately my choice to pursue hockey."

The "Patrick" name in sports

The Patrick name isn't specific to the NHL. Patrick's mother Carrie and aunt Tara both played volleyball for the University of Winnipeg in the 1990s, and her older sister Maddie just wrapped up a five-year U SPORTS career with the UBC Thunderbirds.
 
Aimee's chosen to instead don the brown and gold.
 
"I've always enjoyed the fact of being able to stay home," said Patrick. "I think the best place for my career to be able to grow as a hockey player would be at the U of M."
 
Rempel says he doesn't recruit players based on their hockey lineage but admitted you can't "ignore the passion for the game the family has and what they've contributed to the game."
 
The Patrick athletic family tree also has roots in the CFL. Patrick's grandfather Steve played 290 games over 13 seasons for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He's a four-time Grey Cup champion and member of the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame as well.
 
"It's been pretty fun growing up with them, but it just came naturally from the beginning," said Patrick. "I mean, I think we all just fell in love with our sport and that it made it easy for us to continue to work so hard at it because we all just enjoyed it so much."

Patrick "checks a lot of boxes" for Bisons

Rempel sees Patrick as being a key player in the Bisons ongoing rebuild.
 
Two years removed from a national championship, Rempel's team finished 8-17-2-1 in 2019–20. The Bisons lost 18 players within the last two seasons, so Patrick's a part of the next wave.
 
"We needed more size, and she brings that. She brings aggression and a pretty good knack for the offensive part of the game," said Rempel. "She's part of a very good recruiting class. This is on paper, probably one of my best in a long time. The quality and the quantity is pretty high."
 
Patrick spent the last three seasons with the St. Mary's Academy Flames Prep Team (SMA), leading the way in 2019–20 with a team-high 20 goals and 49 points in 46 games. She found
early success with the Flames, winning the 2018 Female World Sport School Challenge, an annual tournament hosted by SMA.
 
"Last year I was an assistant captain, I had a really good leadership group there with the girls, and we were just able to bond and have a really good team this year, which was probably the best thing you can ask for a hockey player," said Patrick about SMA.
 
In 2018, Patrick earned a spot on Team Manitoba at the Canadian U-18 Championships in Modern and Winkler. Although her team went winless, Patrick found the experience invaluable.
 
"I got to meet a lot of cool girls, and the coaching was great," said Patrick. "It was just a really fun experience to be able to come together with all the best hockey players in Manitoba."

Size, scoring threat up the middle

Patrick's able to line up at centre or wing, giving Rempel some options with the 5'9" forward.
 
"I like the idea of having multiple players on lines that can take draws from their strong side," said Rempel. "That's not a luxury we've had in the last couple years and I think it's something a lot of teams do now, even at the NHL level."
 
With 29 assists last year, Patrick says her strength is her vision.
 
"I'm mostly a centre," said Patrick. "I try to see the ice as good as possible, see plays before they happen and kind of read where the puck is going to be because that's how you can get those offensive plays."

There's also a physical side to Patrick's game. She says she tries her best with "staying out of the box — but sometimes that's not how it goes."
 
Patrick's instead wants to contribute on the scoring sheet. With Bisons 2019–20 leading scorer Jordyn Zacharias graduating, Patrick will get an early chance to fill in on offence. The hometown recruit says she'll be comfortable in this environment.
 
"Being able to go play for the Bisons is awesome," said Patrick. "I get to stay home, have that support from my family while I get to pursue my career."