Paul Coffey

Paul Coffey
Hockey Hall of Fame, 2004
Born	(1961-06-01) June 1, 1961 Weston, Ontario, CAN
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb)
Position	Defence
Played for	Edmonton Oilers (1980–1987) Pittsburgh Penguins (1987–1992) Los Angeles Kings (1992–1993) Detroit Red Wings (1993–1996) Hartford Whalers (1996) Philadelphia Flyers (1996–1998) Chicago Blackhawks (1998) Carolina Hurricanes (1998–2000) Boston Bruins (2000)
National team	Canada
NHL draft	6th overall, 1980 Edmonton Oilers
Playing career	1980–2000

Paul Douglas Coffey (born June 1, 1961) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey League. Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time among NHL defencemen in career goals, assists, and points.

Playing career

Coffey was drafted 6th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. He blossomed in the 1981–82 season, scoring 89 points and was named a Second-Team NHL All-Star. In the Oilers' first Stanley Cup-winning season, he became only the second defenceman in NHL history to score 40 goals in a season. He won his first James Norris Trophy in 1984–85 while posting 121 points. On October 26, 1984, Coffey would be the last defenceman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game. It occurred in a game versus the Detroit Red Wings. Coffey went on to post a historic post-season in the 1985 Playoffs, setting records for most goals (12), assists (25), and points (37) in one playoff year by a defenceman on the way to another Stanley Cup. He won the Norris Trophy again in 1985–86, while breaking Bobby Orr's record for goals in a season by a defenceman, scoring 48. His 138 points that year was second only to Orr (139 in 1970–71) among defensemen.

Coffey helped Edmonton to a third Cup in 1986–87, but the deciding Game Seven that year against Philadelphia would be his last in an Oilers' uniform. After a monetary dispute with Head Coach & General Manager Glen Sather, Coffey was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1987.

Coffey played four and a half seasons with Pittsburgh. On Dec 22, 1990 Paul Coffey became the second defenseman ever to record 1000 points, doing so in a record-breaking 770 games. Paul Coffey won a fourth Stanley Cup in 1990–91 with Pittsburgh. During the 1992 season Coffey passed Denis Potvin to become the career leader in goals, assist, and points by a defenseman. He was then traded to the Los Angeles Kings where he was re-united with Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri for parts of two seasons.

After his brief stint with L.A., he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he played for four and a half seasons and enjoyed moderate success. In the lockout-shortened 1994–95 NHL season, Coffey led his team in scoring, the only time in his entire career he would accomplish that feat, while picking up his third Norris Trophy. In the 1994-95 NHL Playoffs, he led all defenceman in shorthanded goals (2) while helping Detroit to the Stanley Cup Final. However, the Red Wings were shocked by the New Jersey Devils in 4 games.

After a falling out with Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, Coffey was then traded to the Hartford Whalers at the start of the 1996–97 season, a team expected to finish at the top of its division. Coffey was subsequently traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He played for Philadelphia for a season and a half, most significantly helping the team to reach the 1997 Stanley Cup Final against his former team, Detroit. Coffey's Final series was not successful, being on ice for six of Detroit's goals and was in the penalty box for a seventh when the Flyers conceded a power-play goal, ending up with no points and being minus-2 and minus-3 in the first two games.

After a very brief stint (10 games) with the Chicago Blackhawks, he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, where he played one and a half seasons. He would play his final season in Boston, with the Bruins.

During Coffey's last NHL season Ray Bourque passed his career goals, assist and points records. Bourque also retired after 2000–01 season. Paul Coffey retired in 2001 with 396 goals, 1135 assists, and 1531 points, and still second only to Ray Bourque in all-time career scoring by a defenseman. Coffey, however, averaged more points per game than did Bourque. In 2005, the Edmonton Oilers retired his uniform number 7.

Awards

File:Paul Coffey plaque.jpg

Paul Coffey's plaque in the hockey hall of fame.

• Named to the OHA Second All-Star Team — 1979–80
• Won the James Norris Memorial Trophy — 1984–85, 1985–86, 1994–95
• Named to the NHL First All-Star Team — 1984–85, 1985–86, 1988–89, 1994–95
• Named to the NHL Second All-Star Team — 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1989–90
• Played in the NHL All-Star Game — 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997
• Stanley Cup Champion 1984, 1985, 1987 (with Edmonton), 1991 (with Pittsburgh)
• Lost in Finals 1983 (with Edmonton), 1995 (with Detroit), 1997 (with Philadelphia)
• Named to the Canada Cup All-Star Team — 1984
• Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004
• In 1998, he was ranked number 28 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players
• Currently 12th all-time in career points (was 9th when he retired in 2000, but was passed by Mario Lemieux later in the 2000–01 season, Joe Sakic on January 1, 2007, and Jaromir Jagr on October 12, 2007
• Was inducted into the Penguins Hall of Fame on November 15, 2007

Records

• NHL record for most goals in one season by a defenceman — 48 in 1985–86
• NHL record for most shorthanded goals in one season by a defenceman — 9 in 1985–86
• NHL record for most points in one game by a defenceman — 8 on March 14, 1986 (2G, 6A, shared with Tom Bladon)
• Most assists by a defenceman, one game — 6 (tied with 4 others) Mar. 14, 1986
• Longest point-scoring streak by a defenceman — 28 games in 1985–86
• Most goals by a defenceman, one playoff year — 12 in 1985
• Most assists by a defenceman, one playoff year — 25 in 1985
• Most points by a defenceman, one playoff year — 37 in 1985
• Most shorthanded goals by a defenceman, one playoff year — 2 in 1983 and in 1996
• The most different teams played on by a 1,000 point scorer — 8 (Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Detroit, Hartford/Carolina, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston)
• The most PIM by a 1000 point defenceman
• First ever 1000 point Hall of Fame NHL defenceman to participate in Pros vs. Joes

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1977–78	Kingston Canadians	OMJHL		8	2	2	4	11		—	—	—	—	—
1978–79	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OMJHL		68	17	72	89	103		—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds	OMJHL		23	10	21	31	63		—	—	—	—	—
1979–80	Kitchener Rangers	OMJHL		52	19	52	71	130		—	—	—	—	—
1980–81	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		74	9	23	32	130		9	4	3	7	22
1981–82	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		80	29	60	89	106		5	1	1	2	6
1982–83	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		80	29	67	96	87		16	7	7	14	14
1983–84	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		80	40	86	126	104		19	8	14	22	21
1984–85	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		80	37	84	121	97		18	12	25	37	44
1985–86	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		79	48	90	138	120		10	1	9	10	30
1986–87	Edmonton Oilers	NHL		59	17	50	67	49		17	3	8	11	30
1987–88	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		46	15	52	67	93		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		75	30	83	113	195		11	2	13	15	31
1989–90	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		80	29	74	103	95		—	—	—	—	—
1990–91	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		76	24	69	93	128		12	2	9	11	6
1991–92	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL		54	10	54	64	62		—	—	—	—	—
1991–92	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		10	1	4	5	25		6	4	3	7	2
1992–93	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		50	8	49	57	50		—	—	—	—	—
1992–93	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		30	4	26	30	27		7	2	9	11	2
1993–94	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		80	14	63	77	106		7	1	6	7	8
1994–95	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		45	14	44	58	72		18	6	12	18	10
1995–96	Detroit Red Wings	NHL		76	14	60	74	90		17	5	9	14	30
1996–97	Hartford Whalers	NHL		20	3	5	8	18		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		37	6	20	26	20		17	1	8	9	6
1997–98	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		57	2	27	29	30		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		10	0	4	4	0		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		44	2	8	10	25		5	0	1	1	2
1999–00	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		69	11	29	40	40		—	—	—	—	—
2000–01	Boston Bruins	NHL		18	0	4	4	30		—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				1409	396	1135	1531	1802		194	59	137	196	264

International play

Played for Canada in:

• 1984 Canada Cup
• 1987 Canada Cup
• 1990 World Championships
• 1991 Canada Cup
• 1996 World Cup of Hockey

Trivia

• Coffey preferred his skates to fit as tightly as possible, and wore two sizes smaller than his shoes. They were tied with two sets of laces, one laced from the bottom to half way up, and the other from the halfway point to the top. The skates were so tight that rather than untying them trainers cut the laces to remove his skates after every game. Also, he preferred to grind the blades of his skates to a very dull finish resulting in him "gliding" over the surface of the ice.
• Coffee preferred to carry the puck out of the zone because he felt his teammates were inferior.
• He is currently the owner of a Toyota dealership named Paul Coffey's Bolton Toyota in Bolton, Ontario.
• He is the owner of Paul Coffey Nissan, located in Kitchener, Ontario.
• He lives with his wife and 3 children.
• He is one of three members of the Hockey Hall of Fame to have switched from jersey number 7 to 77 during his career; Phil Esposito and Ray Bourque are the other two. Coffey made the switch when he was traded from Edmonton to Pittsburgh; he continued to wear 77 for the rest of his career until his last stop, Boston, where he wore #74 (Ray Bourque's #77 had been unofficially retired at the time).

See also

• Hockey Hall of Fame
• James Norris Memorial Trophy
• List of NHL statistical leaders
• List of NHL players with 1000 points
• List of NHL players with 1000 games played

External links

• Paul Coffey career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Paul Coffey biography at Legends of Hockey
• Hockey-Fans profile