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Paul Coffey
Paul Coffey
Position Defence
Shot Left
Height
Weight
6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
201 lb (91 kg)
Team
F. Teams
retired
OPJHL
North York Rangers
OMJHL
Kingston Canadiens
Soo Greyhounds
Kitchener Rangers
NHL
Edmonton Oilers
Pittsburgh Penguins
Los Angeles Kings
Detroit Red Wings
Hartford Whalers
Philadelphia Flyers
Chicago Blackhawks
Carolina Hurricanes
Boston Bruins
Teams Canada
World Championships 1990
Coaching 2004-2005 Arizona Coyotes
2012-2013 Toronto Marlboros Bantam AAA
2013-2014 Toronto Marlboros Mn Mdgt AAA
2014-2015 Pickering Panthers
2017-2019 Edmonton Oilers
2019-present Canadian National Team
Nationality Flag of Canada Canadian
Born June 1, 1961,
Weston, Ontario, Canada
NHL Draft 6th overall, 1980
Edmonton Oilers
Pro Career 1977 – 2001
Hall of Fame, 2004

Paul Douglas Coffey (born June 1 1961, in Malton, Ontario) is a retired professional ice hockey defenceman in the National Hockey League. Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time among NHL defensemen in career goals, assists, and points. He is currently an assistant coach of the Canadian National Team on the Spengler Cup.

NHL 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 defenseman in NHL history to score 40 goals in a season. He won his first James Norris Trophy in 1984-85 while posting 121 points. 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 defenseman 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 defenseman, scoring 48. His 138 ponts that year was second only to Orr (139 in 1970-71) among defensemen. [1]

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, where he played four and a half seasons, and won another Stanley Cup in 1990-91. 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. [2]

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.

He was then traded to the Hartford Whalers at the start of the 1996-97 season after a falling out with Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman. But before he could even get halfway into the season, he engineered a trade 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 Finals against his former team, Detroit. Coffey's finals series was not successful (due to the tactics of Bowman in neutralizing him), and he suffered a concussion in Game Two that ended his postseason prematurely. The Flyers were swept by the Red Wings in four 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.

Paul Coffey retired in 2000 with 396 goals, 1135 assists, and 1531 points, second only to Ray Bourque in all-time career scoring by a defenceman. In 2005, the Edmonton Oilers retired his uniform number 7.

Awards[]

Paul Coffey plaque

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

Records formerly and currently held by Paul Coffey[]

  • NHL record most goals by a defenseman- 385, surpassed and currently held by Ray Bourque (410)
  • NHL record most assists by a defenseman- 1135, surpassed and currently held by Ray Bourque (1169)
  • NHL record most points by a defenseman- 1527, surpassed and currently held by Ray Bourque (1579)
  • NHL record for most goals in one season by a defenseman — 48 in 1985-86
  • NHL record for most goals in one season by a defenseman including playoffs 49 (37 regular season &12 playoffs) in 1984-85 & (48 regular season & 1 playoffs) in 1985-86
  • NHL record for most assists in one season by a defenseman including playoffs 109 (84 regular season & 25 Playoffs) in 1984-85 tied with Bobby Orr in 1970-71
  • NHL record for most points in one season by a defenseman including playoffs 158 (121 regular season & 37 playoffs) in 1984-85
  • NHL record for most points in one game by a defenseman — 8 on March 14, 1986 (2G, 6A, shared with Tom Bladon)
  • Most assists by a defenseman, one game — 6 (tied with 4 others) Mar. 14, 1986
  • Longest point-scoring streak by a defenseman — 28 games (16G-39A-55PTS) in 1985-86
  • Most goals by a defenseman, one playoff year — 12 in 1985
  • Most assists by a defenseman, one playoff year — 25 in 1985
  • Most points by a defenseman, one playoff year — 37 in 1985
  • Fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 1000 Points- 770 GP
  • Fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 1100 Points- 856 GP
  • Fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 1200 Points- 952 GP
  • Fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 1300 Points- 1050 GP
  • Fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 1400 Points- 1148 GP
  • Fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach 1500 Points- 1322 GP
  • The most different teams played on by a 1,000 point scorer — 8 (Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Detroit, Hartford/Carolina, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Boston)

Career statistics[]

    Regular Season   Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
1977-78 Kingston Canadians OHA 8 2 2 4 11 - - - - -
1978-79 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHA 68 17 72 89 103 - - - - -
1979-80 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds OHA 23 10 21 31 63 - - - - -
1979-80 Kitchener Rangers OHA 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:

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.
  • 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 Stephanie and 3 children; Savannah, Blake and (unknown)
  • 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 retired). [5]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

Preceded by
Rod Langway
Winner of the Norris Trophy
1985, 1986
Succeeded by
Ray Bourque
Preceded by
Ray Bourque
Winner of the Norris Trophy
1995
Succeeded by
Chris Chelios
Edmonton Oilers first-round draft picks
WHA: RogersSoetaertDeanChapmanFederkoCrossbeen
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