Paul Douglas Coffey (born June 1, 1961) is a Canadian retired professional ice hockey defenseman who played for nine teams 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, behind Ray Bourque. He won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman three times and was voted to eight end-of-season All-Star Teams (four First-Team and 4 Second-Team). He holds the record for the most goals by a defensemen in one season, 48 in 1985-86, and is the only defensemen to have scored 40 goals more than once, also doing it in 1983-84. He is also one of only two defensemen to score 100 points in a season more than one time, as he did it five times; Bobby Orr did it six times. Paul Coffey holds or shares 33 NHL records in the regular season and playoffs.
Coffey was born in Weston, Ontario, but grew up in Malton, Ontario. The city of Mississauga renamed Malton Arena to Paul Coffey Arena and renamed Wildwood Park to Paul Coffey Park in a ceremony on September 23, 2016. In 2017 Coffey was named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players in history.
Video Paul Coffey
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 defenseman in NHL history to score 40 goals in a season and added 86 assists to finished second in point scoring. He won his first James Norris Trophy in 1984-85 while posting 37 goals and 121 points. On December 26, 1984 in a game against the Calgary Flames, Coffey became the last defenseman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game. 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 points that year was second only to Orr (139 in 1970-71) among defencemen.
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 (save for his final season in Boston, where he wore 74).
Coffey played four and a half seasons with Pittsburgh. On December 22, 1990, Coffey became the second defenseman 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.
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 lock-out shortened 1994-95 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 defenseman in shorthanded goals (2) while helping Detroit to the Stanley Cup Final. However, the favoured 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 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 the series with a concussion.
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 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 defenseman. Coffey, however, averaged more points per game than did Bourque, having played 203 fewer games but lagging by only 48 points.
Paul Coffey was voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Edmonton Oilers retired his uniform number 7 in 2005.
Maps Paul Coffey
Post-playing career
While coaching a game for the Toronto Marlboros midget 'AAA' team in February 2014, Coffey was assessed a gross misconduct penalty for a discriminatory slur. The Greater Toronto Hockey League investigated the misconduct penalty and Coffey was handed a three-game suspension. Coffey is a co-owner of the OJHL's Pickering Panthers.
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
- 4-time Stanley Cup champion -- 1984, 1985, 1987 (with Edmonton), 1991 (with Pittsburgh)
- 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
- Was inducted into the Penguins Hall of Fame on November 15, 2007
He is one of the 2016 inductees into Legends Row: Mississauga Walk of Fame.
NHL records
Regular season
- Most goals in one season by a defenseman -- 48 in 1985-86
- Most shorthanded goals in one season by a defenseman -- 9 in 1985-86
- Most assists in one game by a defenseman: (6) on March 14, 1986
- Most points in one game by a defenseman: (8) on March 14, 1986 (2G, 6A, shared with Tom Bladon 4G, 4A)
- Most seasons leading the league in scoring by a defenseman (8)
- Fastest defenseman in NHL history to score 1000 points: (770 Games)
- Longest point-scoring streak by a defenceman: (28 Games) in 1985-86, (Point Totals during streak "16-39-55")
- Most 40-goal seasons by a defenseman career: (2)
- Most 50-assist seasons by a defenseman career: (14)
- Most 60-assist seasons by a defenseman career: (11)
- Most 70-assist seasons by a defenseman career: (6) (Shares record with Bobby Orr)
- Most 80-point seasons by a defenseman career: (8)
- Highest goals per game average by a defenseman in one season: (0.608)
- Highest career assist per game average by a defenseman: (0.806) - "Minimum 750 Games"
- Highest career points per game average by a defenseman: (1.087) - "Minimum 750 Games"
- Only defenseman in NHL history to selected (First Team All Star) playing for three different teams
- Most PIM by a 1000 Point Defenseman
- Most different teams played on by a 1000 point scorer: (Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Detroit, Hartford, Philadelphia, Chicago, Carolina, Boston)
Playoffs
- Most career goals by a defenseman in NHL playoff history: (59)
- Most career points by a defenseman in NHL playoff history: (196)
- 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
- Most career short-handed goals by a defenseman in NHL playoff history: (6)
- Most short-handed goals by a defenseman, one playoff year (2) in (1983) and (1996)
- Highest Plus/Minus by a defenseman, one playoff year: +26 in 1985
- Highest goals per game average in one playoff year by a defenseman: (0.667) in 1985 - "Minimum 10 Playoff Games"
- Highest assists per game average in one playoff year by a defenseman: (1.389) in 1985 - "Minimum 5 Playoff Games"
- Highest points per game average in one playoff year by a defenseman: (2.056) in 1985
- Highest career goals per game average in playoffs by a defenseman: (0.304) - "Minimum 75 Games"
- Highest career assists per game average in playoffs by a defenseman: (0.706) - "Minimum 100 Games"
- Highest career points per game average in playoffs by a defenseman: (1.010) - "Minimum 100 Games"
- Only defenseman in NHL history to have two (+20) Plus/Minus rating's in a single post-season with a (+26) in 1985 and a (+21) in 1984
Career statistics
Figures in boldface italics are NHL records for defensemen.
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
International play
Played for Canada in:
- 1984 Canada Cup
- 1987 Canada Cup
- 1990 World Championships
- 1991 Canada Cup
- 1996 World Cup of Hockey
Personal life
- He is currently the owner of a Kia dealership named Paul Coffey's Bolton Kia in Bolton, Ontario.
- Coffey and his wife, Stephanie have three children; sons Christian and Blake and daughter Savannah.
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
References
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database
- Hockey-Fans profile
- Paul Coffey Official Website
Source of article : Wikipedia
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