| Paul Coffey | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockey Hall of Fame, 2004 | |||
 Coffey in 2007 | |||
| Born | (1961-06-01)June 1, 1961 (age 63) Weston, Ontario, Canada | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | ||
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st 4 lb) | ||
| Position | Defence | ||
| Shot | Left | ||
| Played for | Edmonton Oilers Pittsburgh Penguins Los Angeles Kings Detroit Red Wings Hartford Whalers Philadelphia Flyers Chicago Blackhawks Carolina Hurricanes Boston Bruins | ||
| National team |  Canada | ||
| NHL draft | 6th overall,1980 Edmonton Oilers | ||
| Playing career | 1980–2001 | ||
| Website | paulcoffey | ||
Paul Patrick Coffey (born June 1, 1961) is a Canadian former professionalice hockeydefenceman who played for nine teams over 21 seasons in theNational Hockey League (NHL). Known for his speed and scoring prowess, Coffey ranks second all-time among NHL defencemen ingoals,assists, andpoints, behind onlyRay Bourque. He won theJames Norris Memorial Trophy as the NHL's best defenceman three times and was voted to eight end-of-season All-Star teams (four first-team and four second-team). He holds the record for the most goals by a defenceman in one season, 48 in 1985–86, and is the only defenceman to have scored 40 goals more than once, also doing it in 1983–84. He is also one of only two defencemen to score 100 points in a season more than once, as he did it five times;Bobby Orr did it six times. Coffey holds or shares 33 NHL records in the regular season and playoffs.
During his NHL career, he played for theEdmonton Oilers,Pittsburgh Penguins,Los Angeles Kings,Detroit Red Wings,Hartford Whalers,Philadelphia Flyers,Carolina Hurricanes,Chicago Blackhawks, andBoston Bruins. He is a four-timeStanley Cup champion, winning three times with Edmonton and a fourth with Pittsburgh.
Coffey was born inWeston,Ontario, and grew up inMalton, Ontario. The city ofMississauga renamed Malton Arena to Paul Coffey Arena and Wildwood Park to Paul Coffey Park in a ceremony on September 23, 2016.[1] In 2017, Coffey was named one of the100 Greatest NHL Players in history.[2]
In his youth, Coffey played in the 1974Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with aminor ice hockey team fromMississauga.[3]
Coffey was drafted sixth overall by theEdmonton Oilers in the1980 NHL entry draft. He blossomed in the1981–82 season, scoring 89 points and was named a second-teamNHL All-Star. In the Oilers' firstStanley Cup-winning season, 1983–84, he became only the second defenceman in NHL history to score 40 goals in a season and added 86 assists to finish second in point scoring. He won his firstJames Norris Memorial Trophy in1984–85 while posting 37 goals and 121 points. On December 26, 1984, in a game against theCalgary Flames, Coffey became the last defenceman in the 20th century to score four goals in one game.[4] 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 in1985–86, while breakingBobby Orr's record for goals in a season by a defenceman, scoring 48. His 138 points that year was second only to Orr (139 in1970–71) among defencemen.[5]
Coffey helped Edmonton to a third Cup in1986–87, but the deciding Game 7 of that year'sStanley Cup Finals against thePhiladelphia Flyers would be his last in an Oiler uniform. Coffey had two years remaining on a contract that paid him a reported $320,000 a year, butheld out at the beginning of the1987–88 season, wanting the contract renegotiated to pay him $800,000 a year. Team ownerPeter Pocklington refused to do so, and offended Coffey by suggesting he lacked courage when playing; Coffey vowed never to put on an Edmonton uniform again and demanded a trade.[6] On November 24, 1987, the Oilers traded Coffey, along withDave Hunter andWayne Van Dorp, to thePittsburgh Penguins forCraig Simpson,Dave Hannan,Moe Mantha, andChris Joseph.[7]
As the Penguins'Rod Buskas was already wearing uniform number 7, Coffey agreed to change his uniform number from 7 to 77. He would wear it for most of the rest of his career until 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 defenceman to record 1,000 points, doing so in a record-breaking 770 games. Coffey won a fourth Stanley Cup in1990–91 with Pittsburgh. During the 1992 season, Coffey passedDenis Potvin to become the career leader in goals, assists, and points by a defenceman. He was then traded to theLos Angeles Kings where he was reunited with former Oilers teammatesWayne Gretzky andJari Kurri for parts of two seasons.[8]
After his brief stint with Los Angeles, he was traded to theDetroit Red Wings where he played for three and a half seasons. In the lock-out 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 1995 playoffs, he led all defencemen in scoring while helping Detroit to the Stanley Cup Finals. However, the favoured Red Wings were swept by theNew Jersey Devils in four games. Coffey would then help the Red Wings to an astounding 62 regular season wins the following year, though the team would ultimately get eliminated by theColorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Finals. During Game 1 of that series, Coffey scored two goals but also accidentally scored on his own net after Colorado's Stephane Yelle attempted to pass the puck into the slot but it instead ended up on Coffey's stick.
After a falling-out with Red Wings coachScotty Bowman, Coffey was traded to theHartford Whalers at the start of the1996–97 season as part of a package to acquireBrendan Shanahan – a move that Coffey was unhappy with.[9]
Coffey only played 20 games for the Whalers before being traded to the Flyers. He played for Philadelphia for a season and a half, reaching the1997 Stanley Cup Finals, his seventh, against his former team, Detroit. Coffey's Final series was not successful, being on the 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 fromDarren McCarty in game two left Coffey sidelined for the rest of the series with a concussion.[10]
After a very brief stint (10 games) with theChicago Blackhawks, he was traded to theCarolina Hurricanes, where he played one and a half seasons. He played his final season in 2000–01 with theBoston Bruins.
During Coffey's last NHL season,Ray Bourque passed his career goal, assist, and point records, and Bourque and Coffey both retired after the 2000–01 season. Coffey finished with 396 goals, 1135 assists, and 1531 points, and remains second only to Bourque in all-time career scoring by a defenceman. 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 theHockey Hall of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility, and the Edmonton Oilers retired his uniform number 7 in 2005.
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".[11] TheGreater Toronto Hockey League investigated the misconduct penalty and Coffey was handed a three-game suspension.[11] Coffey is a co-owner of theOJHL'sPickering Panthers.[12]
On November 12, 2023, Coffey returned to the Edmonton Oilers as the assistant coach.
Coffey was the owner of a car dealership inBolton, Ontario. Coffey and his wife have three children.[citation needed]
He is one of the 2016 inductees intoLegends Row: Mississauga Walk of Fame.
Figures inboldface italics are NHL records for defencemen.
| 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 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 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 | ||
| 1999–2000 | Carolina Hurricanes | NHL | 69 | 11 | 29 | 40 | 40 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2000–01 | Boston Bruins | NHL | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| NHL totals | 1,409 | 396 | 1,135 | 1,531 | 1,802 | 194 | 59 | 137 | 196 | 264 | ||||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing Canada | ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| Canada Cup | ||
 | 1991 Canada | |
| 1987 Canada | |
| 1984 Canada | |
| World Cup | ||
 | 1996 Canada | |
| Year | Team | Event | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Canada | CC | 8 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 4 | |
| 1987 | Canada | CC | 9 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1990 | Canada | WC | 10 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 10 | |
| 1991 | Canada | CC | 8 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 1996 | Canada | WCH | 8 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 12 | |
| Senior totals | 43 | 7 | 31 | 38 | 34 | |||
| Preceded by | Edmonton Oilers first round draft pick 1980 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Rod Langway Ray Bourque | Winner of theNorris Trophy 1985,1986 1995 | Succeeded by |