Acadia Axemen 17th Annual Celebrity Hockey Dinner

Featuring 2004 Hockey Hall of Fame Inductee Paul Coffey

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Paul Coffey averaged better than a point per game during his three seasons in junior, including a personal-high 72 assists for the 1978-79 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Paul Coffey averaged better than a point per game during his three seasons in junior, including a personal-high 72 assists for the 1978-79 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

Smooth-skating Paul Coffey embodied everything an offensive defenseman could be – lightning fast, skilled playmaker, booming shot, savvy — yet still able to defend his team’s zone employing blinding speed.

Born June 1, 1961 in Weston, Ontario, after two seasons of junior, Paul Coffey was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers using their first pick in the 1980 Entry Draft. It was perfect timing for both sides – the Oilers were a highly skilled, offensively explosive club and Coffey’s skill set fit in perfectly as the quarterback of the dynamic young team.

In his second season, 1981-82, Paul led all NHL defensemen with 89 points and was chosen for the Second All-Star Team. In 1982-83, he collected 96 points, but it was his 126 points in 1983-84 that put him second only to teammate Wayne Gretzky in the NHL scoring race that year. That season, the Edmonton Oilers won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

On his way to helping lead the Oilers to their second straight Stanley Cup, Paul Coffey won the Norris Trophy as the National Hockey League’s best defenseman and was selected to the First All-Star Team in 1984-85, a feat he replicated in 1985-86 in a season that can only be considered extraordinary. Coffey finished third in scoring with 138 points, including 48 goals.

Prior to the 1986-87 season, Coffey was traded to Pittsburgh, where he was able to further his exploits. In both 1988-89 and ’89-90, Paul cracked the

Paul Coffey had a solid rookie season in the NHL, recording 32 points in the regular season and leading all Oiler defensemen with seven points in the playoffs.
Paul Coffey had a solid rookie season in the NHL, recording 32 points in the regular season and leading all Oiler defensemen with seven points in the playoffs.

100-point plateau for the fourth time. Coffey helped the Penguins win their first Stanley Cup in 1990-91.

In February 1992, Coffey was moved to the Los Angeles Kings, the third of what would eventually be nine teams on his NHL resume. In January 1993, it was off to Detroit, but an injured knee hampered his play that season. By the following season, he had rebounded and not only led the Red Wings in scoring but was once again awarded the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman.

Coffey represented Canada at four Canada/ World Cup tournaments (1984, '87, '91 and '96)
Coffey represented Canada at four Canada/ World Cup tournaments (1984, ’87, ’91 and ’96)

Paul’s stay in Detroit lasted until October 1996 when he was traded to Hartford. Midway through the season, Coffey landed in Philadelphia. During the summer of 1998, the Flyers traded Paul to the Chicago Blackhawks, but after ten games, he was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes. Coffey’s last stop was with the Boston Bruins, where he signed as a free agent in 2000. After eighteen games, Paul ended his fantastic National Hockey League career; one in which he reached pinnacles seldom even dreamed of — 396 goals and 1,135 assists gave the skilled defenseman 1,531 points in 1,409 regular season games. Paul also contributed 196 points, comprised of 59 goals and 137 assists, in 194 playoff contests.

Through twenty-one NHL seasons, Paul Coffey was named to either the First or Second All-Star Team eight times, and as the Norris Trophy winner on three occasions. In 2004, the spectacularly gifted Paul Coffey was selected to be an Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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
  • Was inducted into the Penguins Hall of Fame on November 15, 2007
Coffey ended his NHL career with Boston having collected 1,531 career points, making him the second most prolific scoring defenseman in NHL history.
Coffey ended his NHL career with Boston having collected 1,531 career points, making him the second most prolific scoring defenseman in NHL history.
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

 

Career statistics

Figures in boldface 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 — — — — — —
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
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 Toyota dealership named Paul Coffey’s Bolton Toyota in Bolton, Ontario, a Kia dealership named Paul Coffey’s Bolton Kia in Bolton, Ontario.
  • He lives with his wife and 3 children.

Information from http://www.hhof.com and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Coffey