That whole team played like a bunch of rovers in the regular season.
For the most part yes but we are talking about Coffey here and it's not like he was anywhere near the best defesnive Dman on his team either.
No, the difference is that Coffey could play defense when he wanted, Housley was a lost cause. You watch Paul in the Canada Cups and the playoffs and it's a lot different.
I'll judge players on what they actually did, not what they could have done.
Except of course when, as the info dug up earlier in this thread revealed, Bowman used him to go head to head with Sakic in '96 because he was the only one that could keep up to him, Lidstrom included.
Sakic was limited to 1G and 3A in 6 games at even strength in that series btw.
That's great but where is the context?
Who else was on that unit?
Which Dman shadowed Forseberg
Was Coffey ever used this way again is was it a 1 time 6 game thing?
How does 1-3-4 in 6 GP at ES match up with the rest of Joe's career?
Other top playoff performers during the same time?
The observation was thrown out there but there isn't a heck of a lot to conclude but I would venture that most superstar's ES line in the playoffs is well below a PPG.
He still wasn't a better player and neither the Al from '99 or the Al from '91 is better than Bourque or Chelios from '87-'96.
So your attempt to make Lidstrom's competition look better while making Bourque's look worse aint gonna fly.
That IS after all your underlying motivation.
I don't have a horse in the race here.
Don't assume that because you approach your threads to promote or diminish a player that others do as well.
I try to look at as many factors as possible because I'm actually not set in my ways here and compile the information to make a decision.
I do know that the level of competition and circumstances in each and every year is different though and sometimes perfect storms are created, like Pronger's Hart win.
If I only cared about putting Lidstrom in the most positive light I would say something like "Lidstrom competed against A Hart winner for his Norris trophies while Bourque didn't" but I wouldn't make that statement because it's absurd and inaccurate and misleading.
A further note to Al only getting Norris recognition in 87 and not 88, it's based on a false reputation on his age 21 season IMO, something that took Al too long to shake and he was a much better overall player throughout his career than his Norris voting stats give him credit for IMO.
You know, I'm beginning to understand why a wise old hockey sage once told me a couple of years go that "If you want to know the definition of 'overrated' the dictionary will tell you it's anyone who ever played for the Red Wings not named Howe." 
