Paul Coffey - Playing Career

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. 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.

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.

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-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 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.

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 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.