Curtis Lester Patrick (December 31, 1883 – June 1, 1960) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player and coach associated with the Victoria Aristocrats/Cougars of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA; Western Hockey League (WHL) after 1924), and the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Along with his brother Frank Patrick and father Joseph Patrick, he founded the PCHA and helped develop several rules for the game of hockey. Patrick won the Stanley Cup six times as a player, coach and manager.

Born in Drummondville, Quebec, Patrick moved to Montreal with his family at a young age and grew up there, and started playing hockey at this time while also working for his father's lumber company. Patrick first played for a top-level team in 1904 when he spent a season with the Brandon Hockey Club in Manitoba, and subsequently played three years in Montreal, winning the Stanley Cup with the Montreal Wanderers in both 1906 and 1907. Moving west to British Columbia with his family in 1907 Patrick played for a local team in Nelson, British Columbia, and was invited to join the Edmonton Hockey Club for a Cup challenge in 1908. Patrick and his brother Frank were lured back east in 1909 by promises of a large salary to join the Renfrew Creamery Kings of the National Hockey Association, though both returned to Nelson after one season with Renfrew.

In 1911 the brothers formed the PCHA, and Patrick owned, managed, coached, and played for the Victoria team. He led the team to a Cup challenge in 1914, and aside from one season with the Seattle Metropolitans in 1917–18 he was with the team until the league was sold off in 1926. While with Victoria he won the Cup again in 1925, the last team outside the National Hockey League (NHL) to do so. Along with Frank, Patrick would introduce many innovations in the PCHA that remain in hockey today, including the blue line, the penalty shot, and tracking assists, among others.

When the WHL, which the PCHA had been absorbed into in 1924, was sold to the NHL in 1926, Patrick was hired by the expansion New York Rangers to be their coach and manager. He led the team to Stanley Cup wins in 1928 and 1933, along with three further Finals appearances. He resigned as coach in 1939 though remained as manager, winning the Cup in that role again in 1940, before resigning from that role in 1946.

Patrick's sons Lynn and Muzz both played for him on the Rangers, and his grandsons Craig and Glenn also played in the NHL. Lynn, Muzz, and Craig all later coached and served as general managers in the NHL as well, while another grandson, Dick is an executive and part-owner of the Washington Capitals; in 2024, great-grandson Chris was named general manager of the Capitals. Patrick's contributions to hockey were recognized with his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1947, and he is also the namesake of the NHL's Lester Patrick Trophy, awarded for outstanding contributions to hockey in the United States, and the Patrick Division, which existed in the NHL from 1974 to 1993.

Patrick's father, Joe, was the son of Irish immigrants: Thomas Patrick had emigrated from County Tyrone in Ireland to Canada in 1848 and settled in Quebec. Joe was born in 1857 and in 1883 married Grace Nelson. They moved to Drummondville, Quebec where Joe worked as a general store clerk and Grace was a schoolmarm. Drummondville was predominantly French-speaking and Catholic at the time, making the Anglophone and Methodist Patrick family a minority in the town. Patrick was born on December 31, 1883, in Drummondville, Quebec, the oldest child of Joe and Grace Patrick. In 1887 the family moved 9 miles (14 km) to Carmell Hill, where Joe bought a half-interest in a general store with William Mitchell. As in Drummondville the town was mainly Francophone, leading the family to learn French. Joe and his partners sold their store in 1892 earning a substantial profit of $10,000; Joe used his $5,000 to establish a lumber company and built a mill in Daveluyville, which was 60 miles (97 km) west of Quebec City. That winter Patrick and his younger brother Frank received their first pair of skates. In 1893 the family moved again, this time to Montreal, as Joe expanded his lumber company. They first lived in Pointe-Saint-Charles, a rail district, before moving to the more prosperous suburb of Westmount in 1895. While in Montreal the two older Patrick brothers were first introduced to ice hockey. They also met Art Ross at this time, who became a close friend of both brothers and had an extensive career in hockey. Patrick developed into a strong hockey player and would frequently be invited as a ringer to play in important games.

In 1901 Patrick enrolled in McGill University. He played basketball in his first semester as a student, and subsequently joined the hockey team. He was also invited to tryout for the Montreal Shamrocks, a top senior team in the city; however as this would have meant leaving the university, Patrick declined the offer, following the advice of his father. Even so Patrick only studied at McGill for one year before he withdrew. He was more focused on playing sports than studying, and so Joe decided to have Patrick start working for the family business. After initially working in an office role, within a year Patrick was promoted to a branch manager. The company was downsized though and so in June 1903 Patrick decided to move to Calgary in Western Canada in an effort to work on cattle ranches. Upon arriving in Calgary he found the lifestyle was not suitable for him, and instead joined the Canadian Pacific Railway as a rodman and chainman on a survey gang, working until the autumn of that year.

On his way back to Montreal, Patrick stopped in Brandon, Manitoba. He had friends there playing hockey, and was offered spot with the team for $25 per month to cover expenses. He played as cover-point for the season. While points and cover-points were not expected to contribute much to offensive actions, Patrick tried to carry the puck up the ice during a game, scoring a goal. While the club questioned his motive, he argued that it was successful, and the fans enjoyed it, so was allowed to keep doing so. He also advocated for the two defenders to line up side-by-side, rather than one in front of the other as had been the standard since the beginning of hockey; this change was adopted by the team and soon widely adopted in hockey. Brandon challenged the Ottawa Senators for the Stanley Cup in that season, but were defeated in the two-game, total-goal series. After the season Patrick returned to Montreal, arriving by March 1904.