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, behind Ray Bourque.
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, 1983–84, 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 December 26, 1984 in a game against the Calgary Flames, Coffey became the last defenceman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game.[1] 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 defencemen.[2]
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 and General Manager Glen Sather, Coffey was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1987. When he was traded to the Penguins, he changed his uniform number from #7 to #77, which he would wear the rest of his career.
Coffey played four and a half seasons with Pittsburgh. On December 22, 1990, Coffey became the second defenceman ever to record 1000 points, doing so in a record-breaking 770 games. 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 reunited with former Oilers teammates Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri for parts of two seasons.[3]
After his brief stint with L.A., he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings where he played for 3 1/2 seasons. In the lockout-shortened1994–95 NHL season, Coffey led his team in scoring for the only time in his entire career, and was awarded the Norris Trophy for the third time. In the 1994-95 NHL Playoffs, he led all defenceman in shorthanded goals (2) while helping Detroit to the Stanley Cup Final. However, the favored Red Wings were swept by the New Jersey Devils in 4 games.
After a falling out with Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman, Coffey was traded to the Hartford Whalers at the start of the 1996–97 season. Coffey only played 20 games for the Whalers before being traded traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He played for Philadelphia for a season and a half, reaching the 1997 Stanley Cup Final, his seventh, 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, and a hit from Darren McCarty in game two left Coffey sidelined for the rest of a series with a concussion.[4]
Coffey in 2009.
Coffey (right) and Larry Murphy are introduced during a pregame ceremony honoring the final regular season game atMellon Arena, April 8, 2010.
After a very brief stint (10 games) with the Chicago Blackhawks, he was traded to theCarolina Hurricanes, where he played one and a half seasons. He would play his final season in 2000–01, with the Boston Bruins.
During Coffey’s last NHL season, Ray Bourque passed his career goals, assist and points records. Bourque and Coffey both retired after 2000–01 season. Paul Coffey finished with 396 goals, 1135 assists, and 1531 points. He is still second only to Ray Bourque in all-time career scoring by a defenceman. Coffey, however, averaged more points per game than did Bourque.
Paul Coffey was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Edmonton Oilers retired his uniform number 7 in 2005.
Coffey skated with former Pittsburgh Penguins teammate Mario Lemieux in theNHL Legends Game, December 31, 2010.
[edit]Awards
- 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)
- Won Canada Cup 1984, 1987, 1991 (with Team Canada)
- 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 13th 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, Jaromir Jagr on October 12, 2007, and Mark Recchi on March 29, 2011 [5][6][7]
- Was inducted into the Penguins Hall of Fame on November 15, 2007
[edit]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) March 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
- Most different teams played on by a 1,000 point scorer — 9 (Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Detroit, Hartford, Philadelphia, Chicago,Carolina and Boston)
- Most PIM by a 1000 point defenceman
[edit]Career statistics
Figures in boldface italics are NHL records.
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | ||
| 1977–78 | North York Rangers | OPJHL | 50 | 14 | 33 | 47 | — | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 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 | +4 | 130 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 7 | +5 | 22 | ||
| 1981–82 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 29 | 60 | 89 | +35 | 106 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -4 | 6 | ||
| 1982–83 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 29 | 67 | 96 | +52 | 87 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 14 | +15 | 14 | ||
| 1983–84 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 40 | 86 | 126 | +52 | 104 | 19 | 8 | 14 | 22 | +19 | 21 | ||
| 1984–85 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 80 | 37 | 84 | 121 | +55 | 97 | 18 | 12 | 25 | 37 | +26 | 44 | ||
| 1985–86 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 79 | 48 | 90 | 138 | +61 | 120 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 30 | ||
| 1986–87 | Edmonton Oilers | NHL | 59 | 17 | 50 | 67 | +12 | 49 | 17 | 3 | 8 | 11 | +7 | 30 | ||
| 1987–88 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 46 | 15 | 52 | 67 | -1 | 93 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1988–89 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 75 | 30 | 83 | 113 | -10 | 195 | 11 | 2 | 13 | 15 | -7 | 31 | ||
| 1989–90 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 80 | 29 | 74 | 103 | -25 | 95 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1990–91 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 76 | 24 | 69 | 93 | -18 | 128 | 12 | 2 | 9 | 11 | -1 | 6 | ||
| 1991–92 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NHL | 54 | 10 | 54 | 64 | +4 | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1991–92 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -3 | 25 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -5 | 2 | ||
| 1992–93 | Los Angeles Kings | NHL | 50 | 8 | 49 | 57 | +9 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1992–93 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 30 | 4 | 26 | 30 | +7 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 11 | -3 | 2 | ||
| 1993–94 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 80 | 14 | 63 | 77 | +28 | 106 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 7 | +6 | 8 | ||
| 1994–95 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 45 | 14 | 44 | 58 | +18 | 72 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 18 | +4 | 10 | ||
| 1995–96 | Detroit Red Wings | NHL | 76 | 14 | 60 | 74 | +19 | 90 | 17 | 5 | 9 | 14 | -3 | 30 | ||
| 1996–97 | Hartford Whalers | NHL | 20 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1996–97 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 37 | 6 | 20 | 26 | +11 | 20 | 17 | 1 | 8 | 9 | -3 | 6 | ||
| 1997–98 | Philadelphia Flyers | NHL | 57 | 2 | 27 | 29 | +3 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Chicago Blackhawks | NHL | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -6 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1998–99 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 44 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -1 | 25 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 1999–00 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 69 | 11 | 29 | 40 | -6 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -6 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1409 | 396 | 1135 | 1531 | +294 | 1802 | 194 | 59 | 137 | 196 | +56 | 264 | ||||
[edit]Transactions
- November 24, 1987: Traded to Pittsburgh by Edmonton with Dave Hunter and Wayne Van Dorp for Craig Simpson, Dave Hannan, Moe Mantha and Chris Joseph
- February 19, 1992: Traded to Los Angeles by Pittsburgh for Brian Benning, Jeff Chychrun and Los Angeles’ 1st round choice (later traded to Philadelphia – Philadelphia selected Jason Bowen) in 1992 Entry Draft
- January 29, 1993: Traded to Detroit by Los Angeles with Sylvain Couturier and Jim Hiller for Jimmy Carson, Marc Potvin and Gary Shuchuk
- October 9, 1996: Traded to Hartford by Detroit with Keith Primeau and Detroit’s 1st round choice (Nikos Tselios) in 1997 Entry Draft for Brendan Shanahan and Brian Glynn
- December 15, 1996: Traded to Philadelphia by Hartford with Hartford’s 3rd round choice (Kris Mallette) in 1997 Entry Draft for Kevin Haller, Philadelphia’s 1st round choice (later traded to San Jose – San Jose selected Scott Hannan) in 1997 Entry Draft and Hartford’s 7th round choice (previously acquired, Carolina selected Andrew Merrick) in 1997 Entry Draft
- June 27, 1998: Traded to Chicago by Philadelphia for NY Islanders’ 5th round choice (previously acquired, Philadelphia selected Francis Belanger) in 1998 Entry Draft
- December 29, 1998: Traded to Carolina by Chicago for Nelson Emerson
- July 13, 2000: Signed as a free agent by Boston
[edit]International play
Played for Canada in:
- 1984 Canada Cup
- 1987 Canada Cup
- 1990 World Championships
- 1991 Canada Cup
- 1996 World Cup of Hockey
[edit]Personal life
- He is currently the owner of a Toyota dealership named Paul Coffey’s Bolton Toyota in Bolton, Ontario, a Kia dealership named Paul Coffey’s Bolton Kia in Bolton, Ontario, and Paul Coffey Nissan, located in Kitchener, Ontario.
- He lives with his wife and 3 children.