worst defensive defenceman ever?

[The Tang]

I didn't see much of him in Boston.

In Pittsburgh, He was on the wrong side of the ice half the time, he had no shot from the point, he had no shot at all, he would ice the puck for no reason, he couldn't stand anyone up, he was last on the team in hits, he was a minus player even though he played with all plus players. I could keep going, but what's the point.

Yes, that really is only the tip of the iceberg. I've never sen such an utterly useless d-man. The guy really couldn't do anything. And it's sad that when he actually had to ice the puck, he couldn't.

 

[chooch*]

Well I saw his whole career and I think the rality is somewhere between all the comments I read before the quoted one.

To me, Coffey was amazing offensively, but average defensively. I'm not saying he was bad, tho.

I remember back then, surprisingly, the Montreal Canadiens used to beat the Oilers quite often (in the regular season!!!!) depsite having a much worse team. One day, Mats Naslund said that one of the tactics was to always enter the Oilers' zone by the Coffey's side.

I dont remember that quote - I think I agree with the above you wrote about 77. He was average becasue while he had quickness on his side, he only stick checked. really he was a high scoring forward playing back.

 

[crump]

Bill Mikkelson, who owns the NHL record for the worst plus-minus of minus-82, set in 1974-75 with Washington.

“It will be a hard one to beat, and why would you want to beat it?'' says Mikkelson.

But as coach Tom McVie said..“Those Washington teams . . . it was like trying to win the Kentucky Derby on a mule. It was just brutal.â€

 

[bryandjen107]

Dmitri Mironov of the Pittsburgh Penguins, They traded Larry Murphy for him. Great deal????

 

[DownFromNJ]

Tom freakin Poti

 

[td_ice]

You must have only watched Coffey when he played for the Blackhawks. Coffey could dominate in the defensive zone because of his speed and hockey sense; he did lose alot of one-on-one battles but he was not your typical all-finesse offensive D-man. Check out his penalty minutes; seven times in his career he topped 100 PIM in a season. Alot of them were because of hauling guys down when he was out-of-position but, regardless, that's not the actions of a player who, 'doesn't care'.

Yeah, Coffey didn't spend alot of time in his own zone but he didn't have to; once he got the puck on his stick, he was going full-speed the other way within a couple of strides and, in his day, full-speed for Paul Coffey meant twice as fast as any other player on the ice.

Mike Keenan has commented about how he used Coffey in a limited, specialist role in the '87 Canada Cup and Coff never complained about it, just did his job. However, once they got to the finals and were in tough time against the Russians, Coffey looked at Keenan and just said, 'play me'. Coffey became one of their most effective defenders after that because his speed allowed him to keep up with Russian forwards and his hockey sense kept him from getting fooled by alot of their unusual techniques.

Would I ask Coffey to shut down a Mario Lemieux? Nope. But to say he did not play defense is erroneous. I would certainly take Coffey's defensive game over guys like Housley, Ozolinsh, Berard, etc. I would say he's certainly on par with Leetch and MacInnis, for example.

I saw Coffey his entire career also. Many of those in person. Yeah he could dominate defensively by puck possession. I stated that in my post. You simply restate it.

Coffey took MANY stick related penalties. He was great offensively, but not great defensively.

I say that despite the fact he was one of my favorite players of All time. His speed and skill were ridiculous.

 

[td_ice]

Man, I don't know what parts of coffey's career you witnessed, but I saw his prime, and any poor press he got was simply due to how great he was offensively. With limited offensive skils he would have still been a quality big leaguer..

Man, I saw his whole career, not just his prime. You might have missed many of his non prime games. And no, he was not just labeled weak on defensive, because of his great offensive skills. There have been many great two way dmen. And that was because they were great on both ends. And it was obvious. No body labeled them weak on d.

Coffey was the best off. dmen, but his defensive part of his game, was well, obvious.

Here is an article which is pretty harsh on Coffey, by quotes from none other than Scotty Bowman.

http://slam.canoe.ca/HockeyNHL97Playoffs/jun5_pla1.html

Granted it is pretty harsh. But the quote from Bowman "A guy that can skate like he can, has all that talent, why can't he play defense?" Bowman asked. Scotty was not the only one that uttered that comment during Coffey's career. Sometimes he just did not put effort into his defensive part of the game and focused all on the offensive part.

Now I don't agree with all of what Scotty has to say in that article. Coffey clearly had him angered. But that was Coffey. He could be very preplexing. All that talent, but didn't play the defensive part of game commensurate with his talent.

 

[Ogopogo*]

Man, I saw his whole career, not just his prime. You might have missed many of his non prime games. And no, he was not just labeled weak on defensive, because of his great offensive skills. There have been many great two way dmen. And that was because they were great on both ends. And it was obvious. No body labeled them weak on d.

Coffey was the best off. dmen, but his defensive part of his game, was well, obvious.

Here is an article which is pretty harsh on Coffey, by quotes from none other than Scotty Bowman.

http://slam.canoe.ca/HockeyNHL97Playoffs/jun5_pla1.html

Granted it is pretty harsh. But the quote from Bowman "A guy that can skate like he can, has all that talent, why can't he play defense?" Bowman asked. Scotty was not the only one that uttered that comment during Coffey's career. Sometimes he just did not put effort into his defensive part of the game and focused all on the offensive part.

Now I don't agree with all of what Scotty has to say in that article. Coffey clearly had him angered. But that was Coffey. He could be very preplexing. All that talent, but didn't play the defensive part of game commensurate with his talent.

"Coffey, who turned 36 June 1, didn't stick around after the game to answer questions."

That article was written in 1997. I don't know of too many players at their peak at the age of 36.

 

[td_ice]

"Coffey, who turned 36 June 1, didn't stick around after the game to answer questions."

That article was written in 1997. I don't know of too many players at their peak at the age of 36.

Granted that was in '97, but that type of game from Coffey, just did not happen late in his career.

I looked for articles or quotes that commented on his prowess on the def. side of puck. I could not find any. All spoke of his off. ability, or ability to control the puck. I have never heard him referred as a two way defensemen.

I saw him play many games as an Oiler and felt he was decent on the def. side. Then as a Penguin, the def. side of his game was below average. After that his def. play decreased imo.

 

[Bring Back Bucky]

Granted that was in '97, but that type of game from Coffey, just did not happen late in his career.

I looked for articles or quotes that commented on his prowess on the def. side of puck. I could not find any. All spoke of his off. ability, or ability to control the puck. I have never heard him referred as a two way defensemen.

I saw him play many games as an Oiler and felt he was decent on the def. side. Then as a Penguin, the def. side of his game was below average. After that his def. play decreased imo.

THe thread title is "Worst defensive defencemen". Coffey was far from meriting consideration. Was he Rod Langway? No, but he was certainly no worse than average.

 

[Leetchie]

When I saw the thread, the first name that came to mind was Dale Purinton.

Absolutely worthless.

 

[Blind Gardien]

Gaston Gingras.