Playing defense for the storied Montreal Canadiens, in front of arguably the world’s best goaltender in Carey Price can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned hockey veteran.  But thus far in his young career, Canadiens defenseman Greg Pateryn has done an admirable job and is being rewarded with more ice time and responsibility since being recalled from the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League (AHL) on March 12.

Perhaps his calm and composed nature comes from experience.  During his successful college career with the University of Michigan Wolverines, Pateryn helped the team capture the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) Championship in 2009-10, a CCHA regular season championship in 2010-11, and played in a Frozen Four National Championship game.  

“Playing in the National Championship game and they journey to get there was an unbelievable experience,” said Pateryn.  “To be able to share those memories with some fantastic teammates who were a great bunch of guys really stand out to me as some of my best memories.”

Pateryn majored in Movement Science in the School of Kinesiology with the goal of earning a degree while advancing his hockey career.  “I’m big on education and academics was a huge factor for me in deciding where I wanted to attend school. From the time I went for my first campus visit, and just being from Michigan and witnessing the Michigan vs Michigan State rivalry, I knew right away that this is where I wanted to attend.”

Prior to the start of his College career, and after a successful season in the USHL with the Ohio Junior Blue Jackets where he led the team’s defensemen in assists, points, and penalty minutes, Pateryn was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the fifth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.  However it was only days later when he found out he had been traded, as part of the deal that sent Mikhail Grabovski to the Leafs, and Pateryn to the Canadiens. 

“It was a huge honor and very exciting to be drafted by Toronto.  But all along I knew my plan was to go to College and that turning pro was at least 4 years away.  The trade to Montreal only happened 12 days after I was drafted by the Leafs, so I felt like I was just going from one team to another before I had even really had much interaction with the Leafs.  Montreal has been a first class organization from top to bottom, and I am very fortunate to be a part of the Canadiens organization.”

Following his final season with the Wolverines, Pateryn was presented the opportunity to join the Canadiens’ AHL affiliate in Hamilton to close out the season and begin his pro career, but declined, opting to finish his degree and graduate on schedule. 

He would begin his first year of pro with the Bulldogs in 2012-13, but faced some adversity early on.  As the start of the NHL season was delayed due to the NHL-NHLPA lockout, players on NHL entry level contracts could be permissibly assigned to the AHL, causing some teams to experience an over supply of players.  Pateryn then suffered an injury and missed most of the first half of the season after undergoing elbow surgery.

“In my first year in Hamilton, I didn’t know what to expect.  It was the lock-out year so there was some degree of uncertainly as to what was going on, then unfortunately I experienced an injury early on that season.  I bounced back well from that though and just tried to have fun.  I think I transitioned well to the pro game and learned a lot from my coaches and teammates.”

Once Pateryn returned to the Bulldogs line-up, his play impressed the Montreal brass enough to earn him the opportunity to play for Canadiens where he appeared in his first three NHL games, averaging 9:36 minutes of ice time and posting an even plus/minus.

“Receiving the call-up to Montreal was really exciting.  I was pretty nervous and wasn’t sure what to expect.  The team was playing 3 games over a 5-day span.  Francis Bouillon really helped direct me during my first few games and helped me get my feet wet in the NHL both on and off the ice.  To get some NHL games under my belt was an awesome experience.  To me, Montreal and the NHL is the type of place that you work so hard to get to and then never want to leave.”

Although Pateryn was assigned to the Bulldogs to start the 2013-14 season, he put the Canadiens on notice that he wanted a return trip to Montreal.  Pateryn would go on to win the Hamilton Bulldogs Top Defenseman Award, and by the end of the season ranked second in the AHL in goals by defensemen, and led all Bulldogs defensemen in goals and points.

“I think my success last year opened their eyes.  I had a great year statistically which was reflected in the contract they gave me after the season.  The organization has confidence and faith in me and I’m working as hard as I can for them.  My stats from this year on paper don’t look as good as last year’s, yet I feel I’ve developed into a better player now.” 

As player development is a large part of any NHL organization’s long term plan, the AHL proudly boats the fact that nearly 90% of current NHL players first developed in the AHL before advancing to the NHL.  Off the ice, the Professional Hockey Players’ Association (PHPA) helps educate AHL (and ECHL) players about their collectively bargained rights, acclimating them to a unionized environment for the first time.

“It’s great knowing that we have a union.  I haven’t had too much interaction with the PHPA personally aside from the presentation we receive at the start of the season, but our Player Rep in Hamilton, Joe Finlay has done a great job keeping guys informed.  Whenever anyone has a question, we go to Joe.”

Bulldogs players were recently informed of some other off-ice news, when the League announced that beginning next season the Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate will be relocating from Hamilton to St. John’s Newfoundland, while the Winnipeg Jets will be relocating their AHL affiliate from St. John’s to Winnipeg.

“The players seemed to have an idea that something like this might happen, but I think guys were surprised when the deal was actually finalized.  It happened pretty quick.  (Bulldogs Owner) Michael Andlauer held a meeting with the players before the announcement was made public and explained the whole situation.  There were a lot of mixed emotions in the room.”

If all goes well for Pateryn, however, the move from Hamilton to St. John’s won’t factor into his plans, nor the team’s plans for him as he strives to maintain a full-time position on the Habs’ blue line next season. 

As for the remainder of this season and into the Stanley Cup playoffs, Pateryn is focused on playing his game that got him to the NHL, and not changing his style, regardless of who is in net. 

“I’m a stay at home defenseman, and don’t want to stray from my set of skills. There are good players in the AHL and NHL, and what I’ve learned from playing in both Leagues is to be consistent and stick to your game that got you to this point.  I know what Carey expects from the defensemen and we know what to expect from him.”

As Pateryn draws from his experience of playing in big games, look for his consistent, calm, cool nature to help the Canadiens in their quest this spring for a 25^th Stanley Cup in franchise history.