Minor league hockey In his youth, Coffey played in the 1974
Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with a
minor ice hockey team from
Mississauga.
Edmonton Oilers Coffey was drafted sixth 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 and added 86 assists to finish second in point scoring. He won his first
James Norris Memorial 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 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. In the
1985–86 where he was awarded his second Norris Trophy, Coffey scored 48 goals, which broke
Bobby Orr's record for regular season goals by a defenceman (46 goals in
1974–75), and Coffey's 138 regular season points was second only to Orr (139 points in
1970–71) among defencemen. Coffey helped Edmonton to a third Cup in
1986–87, but the deciding game seven of that year's
Stanley Cup Final against the
Philadelphia 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, but
held out at the beginning of the
1987–88 season, wanting the contract renegotiated to pay him $800,000 a year. Team owner
Peter 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. On November 24, 1987, the Oilers traded Coffey, along with
Dave Hunter and
Wayne Van Dorp, to the
Pittsburgh Penguins for
Craig Simpson,
Dave Hannan,
Moe Mantha, and
Chris Joseph.
Pittsburgh Penguins are introduced during a pregame ceremony honouring the final regular season game at
Mellon Arena, April 8, 2010. As the Penguins'
Rod Buskas was already wearing uniform number 7, Coffey agreed to change his uniform number from 7 to 77. Coffey would wear 77 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 after
Denis Potvin to record 1,000 points, doing so in a record-breaking 770 games. In
1990–91, Coffey helped Pittsburgh to win their
first Stanley Cup which was also his fourth Cup, defeating the
Minnesota North Stars in six games. During the 1991-92 season, the Penguins were coached by
Scotty Bowman who had stepped in after head coach
Bob Johnson took a leave of absence for cancer treatment. Coffey passed
Denis Potvin to become the career leader in goals, assists, and points by a defenceman, with Coffey leading these categories until the final season of his career. After 54 games, with Pittsburgh struggling despite being the defending Cup champions, Coffey's large salary making him expendable so he was then traded to the
Los Angeles Kings. In Los Angeles, he was reunited with former Oilers teammates
Wayne Gretzky and
Jari Kurri for parts of two seasons.
Detroit Red Wings After his brief stint with Los Angeles, having played just 10 games with the Kings in the 1992-93 season, he was traded to the
Detroit Red Wings where he played for three and a half seasons. Coffey was reunited with Scotty Bowman, who became the head coach of the Red Wings for 1993-94. 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, as the Red Wings won the
Presidents' Trophy for their first-place regular season finish. 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 the
New Jersey Devils in four games. Coffey would then help the Red Wings to an astounding 62 regular season wins the following year as they clinched their second consecutive Presidents' Trophy, but they were upset by the
Colorado 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.
Hartford Whalers and Philadelphia Flyers After a falling-out with Red Wings head coach
Scotty Bowman, Coffey was traded to the
Hartford Whalers at the start of the
1996–97 season as part of a package to acquire
Brendan Shanahan – a move that Coffey was unhappy with since the Whalers were a non-contending team. Coffey only played 20 games for the Whalers before engineering a trade to the Philadelphia Flyers. He played for the Flyers for a season and a half. In the 1997 Stanley Cup playoffs, Coffey's experience helped the Flyers get past the Pittsburgh Penguins (playing against old teammate
Mario Lemieux) and
New York Rangers (featuring former Oilers teammates
Wayne Gretzky and
Mark Messier) to reach
1997 Stanley Cup Final, which was also Coffey's seventh appearance in the Finals. In the Finals series against his former team, Detroit, Coffey did not play well, 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, having no points and being minus-2 and minus-3 in the first two games. Bowman had directed Detroit's players to specifically go after Coffey as a pressure point in the Flyers roster; a hit from
Darren McCarty in game two left Coffey sidelined for the rest of the series with a concussion.
Chicago Blackhawks, Carolina Hurricanes and Boston Bruins After a very brief stint (10 games) with the
Chicago Blackhawks where he only picked up 4 assists and a had a -6 rating, Coffey was traded to the
Carolina Hurricanes (the relocated Hartford Whalers, whom Coffey had briefly played for in the 1996–97) for the rest of the 1998-99 season, where he played one and a half seasons. He had a slow start in the 1999-2000 season but finished strong with one of his best seasons in years. As a free agent in the off-season of 2000, Coffey signed a two-year $4 million contract with the
Boston Bruins, intending to fill the void left by longtime star
Ray Bourque who had been traded away to the
Colorado Avalanche in spring 2000. This was also the last free agent acquisition by
Harry Sinden, who relinquished his title as Bruins general manager early in the 2000-01 season. While Coffey wore number 77 since leaving the Edmonton Oilers, he wore 74 since Bourque had long worn 77 with the Bruins. Coffey missed 9 games due to injury and only appeared in 18 games, where he was unable to make defensive stops without being penalized, while also only getting four assists and failed to improve the Bruins' dismal powerplay. After playing what would be his final NHL game at the
Atlanta Thrashers on December 4, 2000, Coffey was waived by the Bruins. After his stint with the Bruins was finished, Coffey reported turned down two offers to return to the NHL. That season, Bourque passed his career goal, assist, and point records, and Bourque and Coffey both retired after the 2000–01 season. Coffey finished his NHL career 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. Interestingly, Coffey was traded seven times during his NHL career, with several of these moves happening while he was in his prime as well as late career. Four of the teams that traded Coffey away ending up reaching the Stanley Cup Finals in that season or the subsequent season (Edmonton in 1988, Pittsburgh in 1992, Los Angeles in 1993, Detroit in 1997). Philadelphia did reach the 1997 Stanley Cup Finals in the same season that they acquired Coffey in a trade. Paul Coffey was voted into the
Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility, and the Edmonton Oilers retired his uniform number 7 in 2005. ==Post-playing career==