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Maybe waiting for the third time is overrated.

Maybe the second time will be a charm.

At least that seems to be what Kevin Patrick is hoping.

According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the Unversity of Wisconsin assistant hockey coach is interested in another crack at the Alaska job after being beaten out by Doc DelCastillo last year.

Here's the link: http://www.madison.com/wsj/blogs/badger/baggot/281723

I had the chance to interview Kevin when he came up here last time, and he seemed to have his act together.

Since our online archive couldn't find it, I'll spare you the trouble of jumping through a link. Here's what I wrote when Kevin was here to interview:

Patrick's ring makes a big

impression on the Nanooks

By ADAM RAEDER

Staff Writer

As Kevin Patrick stood in the Nanooks Lounge, the last candidate in the search to replace Tavis MacMillan as head hockey coach of the Alaska Nanooks, it wasn't his graying hair, tall frame or wide smile that stood out.

No, it was the mass of gold on his ring finger.

Emblazoned with diamonds, including a red 'W' as a centerpiece, that ring — a shining souvenir of his work with Wisconsin's 2006 championship squad — stood out amongst the blue and gold hues of the Lounge, and Patrick hopes it will help him stand out among the field of four candidates.

"I think the biggest thing is having won a championship and that experience, reaching that pinnacle," said Patrick, who spent the last two years as an assistant with the Badgers after stints on the bench for Bowing Green State University and Union College. "You have 59 teams who start every year with that as their goal. The ability to have that experience and bring that experience to the table about winning a championship, what goes into it and the subtle differences throughout a year that make a difference, I think that's what I bring to the table."

That ring, and the championship pedigree it signified wasn't lost on the players.

"His national championship with Wisconsin, you can't miss that," assistant captain T.J. Campbell said after the team's closed-door meeting with Patrick. "He's in there with that big ring on his finger, you can't miss that. I think when you have a national championship, it brings something extra just because he's been through it, he knows what it takes to get there."

And the 38-year-old Patrick, competing for the job against Alaska assistant Wade Klippenstein, St. Cloud State assistant Eric Rud and University of Nebraska-Omaha assistant Doc DelCastillo, wants to bring that experience to Fairbanks.

"It's a great opportunity," he said. "You want to coach, you want to be a head coach, you want to work in programs where people have pride and passion for the game. Clearly, this is a program that has a ton of pride, ton of passion, not only in the overall university community, but in the overall community. The pride for this program is contagious."

It's that pride that Patrick sensed in the Alaska players during his hour-long meeting with them, praising their abilities on and off the ice, including a cumulative 3.43 GPA in the spring semester.

"An impressive group of young men," Patrick said. "You look at what they continue to do in the classroom, with their travel schedule, that in and of itself makes them an impressive group of young men. ... They're conscientious young men who are driven."

It's that type of drive that Patrick said he would seek out in players for the fast-paced style of hockey he hopes to play.

"(My) coaching philosophy is about a work ethic, about being intensely competitive, doing a lot of details, a lot of fundamentals well, creating that base for success," he said. "You build from the bottom up. We're going to be a team that finishes checks; we're going to be a team that goes hard to the net; we're going to compete.

"It doesn't matter if you're 5-(foot)-6 or 6-5, you've got to be able to skate and be willing to compete."

Where's Patrick going to find these players?

The former Notre Dame defenseman said he's hoping to continue Alaska's strong recruiting presence in western Canada — an area he recruited as an assistant — while looking to expand into other areas.

"The three different universities I've worked at, I've recruited Alberta and BC," said Patrick, who developed a reputation as a top recruiter while helping to rebuild the Bowling Green and Union College programs. "It's not a new area for me. Those leagues are successful leagues, they produce good student-athletes across the board.

"Recruiting is about battles. It's about using your relationships, picking different battles. At the end of the day, you want to be smart about what battles you pick in your target area and other areas that might be new for Fairbanks, but not as new for myself. ... You have to take care of your backyard. There are going to be three different NAHL teams playing in Alaska and there are Alaska kids who may be playing in any number of different leagues. If there's a top Alaska kid out there, we want him in a Fairbanks uniform."

In addition to installing his own recruiting philosophy, systems and style of play, Patrick, if he gets the job, would also have to decide how he's going to round out his coaching staff. A process, he said, that would begin with current assistants Klippenstein and Dallas Ferguson.

"Just like they want the best candidate to take over leading this program as a head coach, I want the best guys who are going to compliment my strengths and weaknesses as a coach," Patrick said. "I'm going to sit down with the current assistants, learn their thoughts, their desires and see if there's compatibility there. Then I'd branch out from there and see if there's a need for anybody, a need for one, a need for two."

Such considerations, though, are a long ways off. Alaska athletic director Forrest Karr said that he expects to make a decision about the next Alaska hockey coach late next week — a decision that will determine if Patrick will be working toward his next ring with the Nanooks or the Badgers.

Contact staff writer Adam Raeder at 459-7583 or araeder@newsminer.com