Burton 40: Patrick Strachan
It's that funky diner on the corner. One day it just opens up for business without any hype. The food's pretty good, and the service is fantastic. You keep meaning to go there more often, but you always get dragged somewhere else by your friends. Then one day, you wake up and find that the diner's closed down, and now you really regret not appreciating it while it was around. In Burton Hockey, Pat Strachan was that diner.
Pat began as sort of a BUSH guest star in 2003, unexpectedly dazzling everyone with outstanding rookie sessions in goal; after two sessions in net he was already ranked fourth all-time in save percentage. To this day, the 'Strachan Line' of 250 shots against is the career minimum standard for Burton records. Ever the individual, Pat turned it all on his head when he came out on feet for the 2003 Christmas session and never went back. He would reinvent himself completely for the following season. Going from a neophyte skater to a solid back-ender in record time, he eventually would surpass Oliver Koth-Kappus as Burton's top d-man; to this day, he is the only player to beat Oliver for the Most Outstanding Defenceman award. On skates, he was a speed demon with great sniping ability. He also has the dubious honour of suffering one of Burton's worst injuries, breaking his wrist in the opening session of 2004 on the hard wooden boards of the Fauquier Arena. Unfortunately, after his terrific full-season debut, he never came back to Burton for whatever reason. As quickly as his star lit alight, it disappeared. Still, Pat's reliability and defensive prowess, plus his historic feat of supplanting Oliver on defence, even if just for a year, was enough to make him one of the Burton 40.
Awards: Most Outstanding Defenceman - 2004; Most Improved Player - 2004; 2nd All-Star - 2004.
Previous Burton 40 Articles
Joe Chwachka
Karl Detta
Ryan Disterheft
Justin Gordon
Tony Hajdu
Stefan Klopp
Seamus O'Connor
Nathan Robson
Troy Waldron
