Rumor: Paul Coffey Joining Oilers

CornKicker

Holland is wrong..except all of the good things
Feb 18, 2005
11,780
2,966
haven't lost in regulation since coffey got here, maybe he knows a thing or 2 about winning
 

Bryanbryoil

Pray For Ukraine
Sep 13, 2004
85,960
34,082
I see it definitely, haven’t really been rewarded until last game, but they have been getting a lot of good chances on the powerplay.

I also don’t mind strome on that first unit, that pass he made to mcdavid for his deflection is something letestu would of just fired into the goalies logo

Our PP has gone from absolute crap to reasonable. Strome can at least pass the puck, Letestu literally was a stationary shot and not much else.

If it was a Woodcroft change it’s pretty coincidental that it took until after Coffey was hired for it to happen. It’s also pretty hard for me to believe the word “change” exists anywhere in Todd Mclellan’s universe.

I have a hard time believing that they made this sudden change when the season is toast. IMO Woodcroft had many chances to right the ship, now a non career coach likely just made a complete ass of him and the entire coaching staff.

If Coffey seriously came in and said to get Lucic/Letestu off the 1st unit, and stop being so static in the zone, then I don't see how Woodcroft should still have a job right now. Or at the least he should not be on the bench and be an assistant anymore. Maybe we can keep him on to make the custom "mistakes you made last night" videos for all the players.

At bare minimum I suspect that we'll see new assistants next season, possibly an entirely new staff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nabob

nabob

Big Daddy Kane
Aug 3, 2005
34,312
20,713
HF boards
It's just as likely that Coffey read the thread about our anemic powerplay here and suggested a few of the suggestions. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that quick puck movement and movement makes for a successful power play. Lucic and Letestu cannot move the puck quickly and are slow AF.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aerrol

ujju2

Registered User
Apr 9, 2016
9,626
6,467
Edmonton, AB
If Coffey did have a large part in the PP improvement, which I think he did, then the hiring is paying off already. It was always a low-risk hiring. Reward seems decent enough.
 

Aerrol

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ
Sep 18, 2014
6,555
3,208
Yeah, if he did force the power play change, then good for him but it's still more an indictment of how godawful Woodcroft and Todd have been than necessarily how genius Paul is. That said, I'll say any positive improvement from a reputation hire is a pleasant change for this organization.
 

LaGu

Registered User
Jan 4, 2011
7,500
3,823
Italy
Hall of Famer Paul Coffey trying to make over Oilers defence corps
http://torontosun.com/sports/hockey...ffey-trying-to-make-over-oilers-defence-corps
Extracts:
Everything starts from the back end, said Paul Coffey.

Ask Coffey what he’s trying to achieve with an Oilers defence that doesn’t have a single player ranked among the top 60 in scoring and he instead turns the conversation over to Rod Langway.
“Even though he was a defensive player — it all started with him,” said Coffey. “Rod Langway led the Washington Capitals up the ice.”

It’s Coffey’s way of saying that you don’t have to skate or handle the puck like he did to become a better puck-moving defenceman.

That was the thing that got that confused when the Oilers hired Coffey two weeks ago to help fix their defence. He isn’t trying to turn Adam Larsson into Erik Karlsson or Darnell Nurse into Brent Burns. He’s just trying to get them thinking like those players.
...
Anyone can make plays. But you’ve got to want to. You’ve got to be hard on yourself to make plays. “The key is not just getting Leon Draisaitl or Connor McDavid the puck, but getting it to them when they want it. Don’t just pass it to them to give it to them. If they’re not ready for it, or if they’re not in stride, then they’re going to get checked as soon as they get it. That’s not getting them the puck.”
Can that be taught? Maybe not, said Coffey. But you can certainly encourage it.
...
“You can’t make mistakes unless you’re trying to make plays,” he said. “Do you want a defenceman who wraps the puck around the boards every time he gets it and doesn’t make mistakes, but then comes off the ice and (exhales) says I didn’t get scored on that shift?
...
Even Larsson, who has been pigeonholed as a stay-at-home defenceman during his time in the NHL, showed far more offensive potential when representing Sweden at the world juniors. Not every player is able to translate his junior game to the NHL. But Coffey is a firm believer that if the skills were there in the past, then there’s no reason they can’t show up again. “Every team wants that guy, but here’s what happens a lot of times,” said Coffey. “A guy will be a goal scorer in junior, a point-producing defencemen with good skills, a good passer, good instincts, can jump up in plays. And as soon as he gets to the big leagues, it gets taken away from him. You have to play within your talents. Whatever your talents allow you to do.
...
Coffey wouldn’t go into detail about what he worked on with the Oilers during his visit last week. But after the disappointing season that Edmonton has had so far, it’s safe to say confidence building was a big part of it. After all, he believes in this group. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have taken a job that requires him flying from Toronto to Edmonton on a weekly basis.
It’s just a matter of getting them to believe in themselves.
...
“I think the Oilers got off to a tough start and had a few key injuries. It’s a pretty tough league right now. It’s hard to get it back. But they have everything there.”
 

oobga

Tier 2 Fan
Aug 1, 2003
22,936
17,813

rboomercat90

Registered User
Mar 24, 2013
14,598
8,770
Edmonton
I'm interest in how what Coffey is saying can at all mesh with McLellan and friends who are obsessed about mistakes and giving players videos of every mistake they make, making them afraid to try anything except the safest possible play. IMO, these kinds of opinions form Coffey are the writing on the wall for the end of the McLellan and Friends era.
It doesn’t seem likely the regime will be around much longer if they are being shown up a guy with no coaching experience. Mclellan is looking more and more like a fraud as time goes on. He continues to remind me of Mac T’s number one guy.
 

Jamin

Registered User
Aug 25, 2009
4,924
778
"You can’t make mistakes unless you’re trying to make plays,” he said. “Do you want a defenceman who wraps the puck around the boards every time he gets it and doesn’t make mistakes, but then comes off the ice and (exhales) says I didn’t get scored on that shift? Me sitting in the crowd paying $200 for a ticket, I want guys to make plays.”

I liked reading this quote
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->