Seriously? Bourque was a 1st team or 2nd team all-star EVERY SINGLE YEAR 1980-1989
was considered the only defenseman better than Coffey in the NHL.
They each won two Norris trophies that decade. Coffey had cups with Gretzky, Messier, Kurri and Bourque led his team to the Stanley Cup Finals once with no hall of fame types beside himself.
Bourque:
1979-80 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1980-81 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1981-82 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1982-83 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1983-84 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1984-85 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1985-86 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1986-87 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1987-88 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1988-89 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1989-90 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
Coffey:
Honors
1981-82 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1982-83 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1983-84 NHL NHL All-Star Team (2nd)
1984-85 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1985-86 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
1988-89 NHL NHL All-Star Team (1st)
Four times Bourque was 1st team all-star the same year Coffey was 2nd year all star (NOT including 1980 or 1990 though technically one of those two times should count, depending on where you slice the decade, so
five times that decade however you slice it) and
only ONCE was Coffey a 1st team all-star with Bourque on the 2nd team.
Are there any history books that dare to assert baldly that Coffey was
the greatest defenseman of the eighties? Coffey was my fav Oiler but I couldn't get anywhere trying to compare him to Bourque. Perhaps history needs to be revised.